Inside/Outside Kewanee

Rock Island News

(Kewanee, Illinois)

May 11, 2006

By Bev Stoner

What Choice Will You Make?

Messages which are hopeful...healthy...and hard to forget. Messages of energy...emotion...and creative thought. Messages from young people on a mission. A mission to stimulate others to think and to react in ways, which are positive. A mission to influence others through the performing arts - dance...theatre...song...and mime - as well as through discussion and by example.

From throughout the Chicago area, the youthful performing artists - because of their diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds - convey a message of hope and promise for the future. Their repertoire reflects the changing times in which we all live.

Among the issues are finding healthy alternatives to alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs; resolving abusive relationship problems associated with bullying, jealousies, and control; eliminating discrimination stemming from differences among people; and developing coping skills when confronted with negative peer influences and low self-esteem.

A focal point for MWAH! is the importance of choices. An overall objective is to inspire young people to face life’s challenges and opportunities with knowledge, confidence and a positive self-image.

Kewanee and Wethersfield High School students along with Visitation Junior High students were presented with some cold hard facts on May 4. A group of young people who make up MWAH (Messages Which Are Hopeful) laid it on the line for young people. What choices are you going to make in your life?

The Kewanee program began with the introduction by Kim Lindstrom of the Drug and Alcohol Task Force. All of a sudden a fight was breaking out between a white boy and a black boy in the aisle. School officials had to break it up. The white boy was using some racial slurs. Students didn’t know what was happening. A sharp pain comes to your heart when you hear a person calling another person by such a derogatory name.

Children learn from others.

Ten-year-old David Scarzone, alias DC, began by explaining how he learns from others. By what he sees and hears. He asked the students to Imagine if you were different from everyone else. Color, size, accent, religion! “Violence is not what love is all about”, states Scarzone. He told the group that he would never disrespect other people and was quite shaken up over the altercation.

Later the two boys returned and the white boy said he was sorry and they walked off as friends. A recording of Martin Luther King’s message was played explaining the his dream of freedom for all nationalities. “Free at Last”. The lesson is to look inside, not a mirror. Search your heart and soul. Set a good example, show leadership. All of us are different, whether it is color, size or accent. Everyone deserves respect.

Jealousy and control.

One of the group, Lauren Verstat, was seated by a high school boy. Her so called boyfriend, Michael Emery, walked up and began hollering at her and asking who she thought she was sitting by this guy. The altercation ended with the boyfriend not only verbally abusing his girlfriend, but also physically abusing her with a slap across the face. David was again there to see it all.

Emery walked up to Verstat to apologize and she told him to leave her alone and walked away. The students clapped and whistled. Emery was thinking about taking a drink and as he sat the bottle down, Lauren came out to return his ring and they sang a duet called Whiskey Lullaby. The song was about drinking and suicide. At the end, Emery emptied the bottle. Another choice…

Are you a nerd?Have you asked some of your friends to help change you, so you could be more like them? Nathan was shown how to change his looks, walk and talk by Andrew Tamez-Hull, Mike Emery and Carlos Griffin. Guess what, it didn’t work. He decided he just wanted to be himself.

Hull, Emery and Griffin sang a few songs to make you stop and think about your choices and performed some pretty good dancing.


Emery told the students that he would get high all the time, but not on drugs or alcohol. He got high on dancing. The whole group, from the 9 year old to the 23 year old, showed off their dancing talents to some of today’s popular music. All the students got in to this part of the program and clapped, hollered and whistled their approval of the dance routines.

Have you ever seen the pain in a child’s eyes that only a parent can inflict?

Emery played the part of a father, who had been divorced and hated not only his ex wife, but also his son, who reminded that father of the ex-wife. Nathan loved the violin and wanted to play it for his father, but he hated the screeching and felt as though his son was a sissy. After verbally abusing the son by telling him, “I wish to God, you had never been born,” he punched him in the face. Nathan told the students that the cuts will heal and the black and blue marks will fade, but the words will never go away. “Verbal abuse hurts as much as physical abuse. Words are worse than fists. I don’t think he even understands and he’s my dad,” says Nathan.

The Rose.Verstat walks on stage with a beautiful, red rose and begins singing “The Rose”. When it ends Scarzone takes the rose and says, “Kids learn what they live. A child is like a rose. How he’s treated depends on how he grows. He can grow big and tall or he can keep leaning over and finally fall to the ground and die.”

The best batter?

Bischoff played a kid who just knew he could be the best batter ever on his baseball team, but just couldn’t seem to get it right. While Emery sang about the baseball game, Bischoff got to thinking, maybe he should pitch instead. Guess what, it worked…Each one of you has a talent at which you will succeed, but it may not be the one you have set your heart on.

Part two.

A mother’s pain. A special guest was Joanne Murdock who stood in the middle of the stage during a song “Tears in Heaven” in tribute to her son, Ryan Murdock. He was a freshman at Southern Illinois University and was driving home from a keg party with four friends when he lost control of the car that flipped. He was ejected through the sunroof and was killed on May 21, 2005 at the age of 19. The other four passengers received only scratches. Ryan had made the choice to drive and drink.

“His dad and I were the first ones to the accident scene,” said Murdock’s mother, Joanne Murdock, as she told her son’s story to the many students gathered in the school auditorium. “We saw our son lying there, not moving. I ran to grab him and hold him. He was very, very cold,” she said. “We had to leave there knowing we would never hear the words ‘I love you’ from him again.”

He was 5’8”, 140 lbs, with a big heart and known for his baseball playing.
His mother told the story of her son being ran off the road by a semi just 10 days before his fatal accident and he had to take the median to avoid hitting the semi. He called his mother on his cell phone and told her he didn’t think he was going to be able to tell her he loved her again. He thought it was over. Ten days later, it was over for Ryan.

“As parents, we try to teach you right from wrong. That’s why we check on you when you’re gone, ask where you’re going, and who you’ll be with,” Murdock said. “It’s not that we don’t want to let you make your own decisions; it’s just that we want to help you make the right decisions. It is in hope that something like this would never happen.”

Her message to the students was the fact that he would want his story to save lives. If just one young adult hears Ryan’s message and makes a difference in the choice they make, that is what he would have wanted.

She was a brave mother and loved her son enough to tell his story to others. A crucial error can change the outcome of the game. A swing and a miss, a wild throw, a dropped ball.

Her message hit close to home for many students in the audience, who wiped away tears as she spoke.

Sgt. Tom Burek of the Illinois State Police also gave a message about choices.

“You make choices every day. Most of you were able to decide what clothes you were to wear to school today. I didn’t get that choice, as I knew what I had to wear. You made the choice to wear or not wear your seat belt when you got in the car. You will make the choice to drink or drink and drive. You can make the choice to allow your friends to drink and drive. This is one of the happiest times of your life. You have worked four years for graduation day to come. Please do not ruin it with a wrong choice.”

MWAH! reminded each student that they were a hero to someone. Each student needs to step back and look at the choice they will make. How will it change my life? Will it be a choice that changes my life forever? A choice that I may regret, but will not be able to change, after it is too late? Every day is full of choices, make the right ones.

The MWAH! program was presented by the Kewanee Community Drug and Alcohol Task Force. The Kewanee Police Department paid for the overnight accommodations for the MHAW! group at AmericInn of Kewanee.

Marianne Culver, President of KCDATF reminded the students that counseling is always available in the area schools. Do not be afraid to ask for help.

Thank you for sharing this program with Kewanee. Many of us were impressed at the messages given to everyone.

MWAH! artists (from left) DC Scarzone, Nathan Pealstrom, Mikey Emery, and Lauren Verstat during
a poignant moment at the conclusion of "The Rose" piece on child abusePhoto: Tammy Wilkinson
of the Star Courier newspaper of Kewanee, Illinois

MWAH! dancers DC Scarzone and Mikey Emery wow Kewanee High School audience with a trick dance move.
>Photo: Tammy Wilkinson of the Star Courier newspaper of Kewanee, Illinois

MWAH! artist Andrew Tamez-Hull chillin' with Kewanee High School friends following the May 4 morning performance
Photo: Tammy Wilkinson of the Star Courier newspaper of Kewanee, Illinois

MWAH! Performing Arts Troupe during appearances at Kewanee High School and Wethersfield High School.
Standing (left to right): Nathan Pealstrom, Lauren Verstat, George Bischoff, Ade Willis, Mikey Emery, and Andrew Tamez Hull.
Photo: Bev Stoner of Inside / Outside Kewanee