Sending a Message of Hope
The Daily Herald
(Scullen, Illinois)
Friday, April 14, 2006
By Sara Hooker - Daily Herald Staff Writer
7th-grader performs for peers, dedicates song to injured dad
Scullen Middle School seventh-grader George Bischoff often spreads messages of hope. But recently, he’s hoped those messages heal physical wounds, too.
Bischoff performed for a few hundred students Wednesday at his school with the performing arts troupe MWAH! (Messages Which Are Hopeful) and dedicated a song to his father, Jon, who was critically injured Saturday in a bicycle accident.
Jon sustained a severe brain injury and a broken hand in the accident along a trail in Oswego and remained in a coma in the intensive care unit at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove until mid-week.
“They’ve been trying to use George to draw him out,” said his mother, Linda Bischoff. She said news of George’s performance elicited a thumbs up from his father.
The 12-member troupe, ranging in age from 10 to 23, focuses on social issues relevant to teens such as bullying, peer pressure and race relations by combining acting, hip-hop dance and singing original and cover songs.
It is affiliated with the Chicago Area Project, a grassroots organization that targets at-risk youths and their families. Members — many who live in Aurora, Naperville and Wheaton — perform throughout the area.
“We look for people who have talent, but also people who have their heads and their hearts in the right place,” Director Ray Moffitt said. “We want them to practice what they do on stage and off stage.”
David Scarzone, 10, known as “D.C.,” attends Clow Elementary in Naperville and said it’s fun being the youngest member of the troupe.
“I can actually say I don’t need to be old to be able to break dance,” he said. “It’s cool to have my own personality.”
The troupe uses occasionally startling honesty in real-life situations, such as verbalizing racial epithets and using slang, to teach students the correct way to handle such situations.
“It’s something they use to be an attention-getter and it’s quite effective,” Assistant Principal Brad Hillman said.
The daring approach didn’t shock most students into an epiphany.
“I always make good choices,” said eighth-grader Kyle Frysztak, who liked the dances but said he didn’t learn anything he doesn’t know already.
But there are others who maybe don’t always make good choices.
And there are others who may have needed that overall message of encouragement —such as Bischoff’s father.
“I have gone to my dad every day since his accident,” George said. “He’s really happy that I’m doing this and it does make him feel good.”
