Grand Canyon University Theatre Students Inspire Kids in Japan with Workshops and Performances.

GCU Theatre Students Teach and Connect Across Cultures, Visited Japan Schools

Jessica Mangels, a senior theatre major at Grand Canyon University got an opportunity to teach theatre to school children in Japan, along with three students who spent three weeks traveling throughout Japan, visiting different schools, and leading theatrical workshops there.

At first, the cohort held a theatre camp at Urwa Lutheran School, where they taught improv games, songs with movement, and short plays. Senior theatre major, Reese Tate, taught students by playing improv games as this method allowed the pupils to easily grasp the ideas, despite the language barrier. Theatre enabled people to communicate more profoundly with their bodies and emotions, resulting in a better relationship with the team and members involved.

The students taught acting exercises and short skits, including the story of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, to approximately 90 school children per session. They hoped to lead a worship session with the youngsters and were overjoyed to see their efforts produce fruitful results. Children also learned theatre tunes like "Tomorrow" from Annie the Musical. At the end of the week, the participants demonstrated what they had learned in performances for their families and congregations at St. Paul's Lutheran Church.

Thomas Heggem, a junior theatre major, described the event as amazing and a success since the two churches, which generally did not coordinate events, gathered after their services to see the performances. Following their performances, the GCU students had the opportunity to give Michael Kary's "Bible in 40," sharing God's Word with those who are unfamiliar with Christ or are just starting to investigate their faith. Later on, the GCU students spent time at The Blessing Room daycare in Fukushima, teaching skits, worship songs, and games like duck-duck-goose. The children loved the American activities and performed their new songs repeatedly for their parents. 
 

The major goal of the trip was to teach theatre, but the GCU students also wanted to share and promote God's love. They observed that communicating with children proved to be extremely beneficial because they were the most receptive to the messages. They believed that God used these young kids to reach out to their parents and other community members and make their trip a memorable opportunity to convey the message of faith and love.

 

Editor’s Note:

The remarkable journey of Grand Canyon University’s College of Arts and Media underscores the transformative power of theatre and education. This journey of students to Japan is an example of cross-cultural exchange which made them share their artistic talents and enabled them to build meaningful relationships to spread a message of compassion and faith. Skoobuzz advocates for more schools to embrace cross-cultural educational initiatives. Engaging in cultural exchange allows students to experience and understand different traditions which they cannot learn through traditional learning methods.