MWAH! Brings Hopeful Messages to Wethersfield High School

Published in Kewanee Star Courier on April 21, 2016

Posted online by Mike Landis, editor of the Star Courier.

The MWAH! troupe at Geneseo Middle School in Geneseo, Illinois on March 14, 2016.
(photo by Dan Eyrich)

Kewanee

Pleas for others by moms from Geneseo and Kewanee following the suicides of their sons; a 14-year-old's determination to learn from and not repeat his parents' deadly dependence on drugs; the personal challenges of a 15-year-old who had been cutting herself; and two teenagers, a 14-year-old Muslim from Moline and a 17-year-old Christian from Rockford, who have learned to accept and appreciate their differences and similarities in today's political rhetoric of hatred and suspicion.

With true stories conveyed through an unconventional medium that's social work-based, a teenage performing arts troupe called MWAH! will focus on these and other youth-related issues at Wethersfield High School Monday morning.

The 90-minute issues-oriented presentation for grades 7-12 will begin at 9 a.m. in the Wethersfield High gym.

The essence of the youthful MWAH! troupe (an acronym for Messages Which Are Hopeful!), is real life drama, combined with contemporary music and audience interaction.

Troupe members live in western and southwestern suburbs of Chicago as well as the Rockford and Quad Cities areas.

A common thread is choices and the importance of making the right ones.

Planning to participate with the troupe are about 20 Wethersfield junior high and high school choir members in a song written in memory of one of the first graders who died in the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in December 2012.

Also included will be special recognition of six Wethersfield High students as "heroes" for their leadership and courage and a high-energy dance finale featuring WHS poms students with MWAH! troupe dancers.

The presentation will be followed by a one-hour debriefing-type discussion session involving Wethersfield High students and MWAH! troupe members, focusing on issues which had just been presented.

Coordinating this special assembly has been Jessie Seiden, Wethersfield High School counselor. The not-for-profit troupe is an affiliate of the Chicago Area Project, a grass-roots service and advocacy program, which is part of an Illinois-wide community services network targeting at-risk youth and their families.