Mike asked if I might write a letter of support and offer some personal reason why the Center should not close. I decided the best way I could say that is with the story I wrote last year about the miracle I witnessed while working with The Center and some wonderful high school students.

Sometimes miracles do happen, and I was privileged to witness one over this past Easter weekend.

My good fortune arrived when I was asked to assist with a theater project with a group of high school students from Wicomico County, Maryland.

The kids call their group STOP ,for Student's Taking an Optimistic Position, and it is organized under the direction of the Center for Conflict Resolution at Salisbury State University. They had been meeting for nearly a year when I was asked to help them turn scripts they had written into dramatic form.

These students are special, each and every one.

However, they didn't realize just how special they are. They are a diverse group joining together from all four high schools in Wicomico County. They're black, white, hispanic, asian, male, female, honor roll and high risk. Some of them are always in trouble at school.

Some of them deal drugs. Some have been to jail.

Some have no fixed address, going from place to place. Some of them are victims of abuse.

Others do have family and friends who care. But all seem to express the lack of voice and control over their lives that comes with being a teenager.

Normally, their lives might never cross. But they came together to find a voice to express their concerns about the world they live in. While doing this they also learned how to work together and more incredibily, to discover in themselves the magic of creativity.

They became empowered as a result, and came to see and to believe that there was more to them than they ever dreamed. It was amazing to be a part of this process. At times, I would watch, and feel goosebumps as these kids awakened to a force inside themselves they didn't know they had.

Getting to that creative core is often a painful process. It's allowing yourself to reveal what's inside, The fears, the anger, the joys and confusion that we all share as human beings.

It's getting past the self consciousness and teasing and laughter from peers. It's realizing that they each bring something special with them: Themselves. But once that connection is made, once they realize that they have captured the moment and the attention of the people watching, they are changed forever.

This transformation is the miracle that occurred, not only in the two nights "Tomorrow's Dreams Today" was performed, but in the many hours in the weeks prior during rehearsals.

I thought, at the time, as I witnessed this miracle of transformation about the idea of Grace. The energy that spilled out of these young people as they tapped into this creative force is Grace. And seeing that Grace was the miracle I witnessed, this past Easter Season.

Note to lynx readers: graphic contains a quote from Plato: "Let early education be sort of an amusement; you will then be better able to find out the natural bent."

May 19, 1996 Kelley Rouse All Rights Reserved

rouse@shore.intercom.net

Table of Contents