A Leading Role for Learning

Ten-year-old Eduardo Alvarado can fake a tragic death like a professional.

His eyes roll back, his mouth opens, he moans in agony and falls to the ground. He lies motionless for several minutes, undisturbed by classmates’ giggles and claps.

“That kid’s going to be an actor,” said Tonyo Melendez, director of education for East L.A. Classic Theatre.

Eduardo is one of nearly 600 students in the Beyond Borders Literacy Intervention program, which is run by actors from the East L.A. Classic Theatre. The six-week program is offered in 10 Los Angeles County schools, engaging students in reading, creative writing and speaking exercises. They do everything from Shakespearean scenes to their own plays.

It isn’t so different from many English classes--except most of the junior high students are still struggling to learn the language.

With bilingual education virtually banned in California, educators are always looking for new and better ways to improve English language instruction for children who are not fluent.

One obvious advantage of the dramatic program is that it entices children to read and write, said Glenda Golobay, principal of Suva Intermediate School. “I don’t want to say it tricks them into writing, but I do think it’s a way for them to see a fun, practical way to utilize writing skills,” she said.

There are other benefits too.

“It definitely built their confidence, leadership and speaking skills,” Golobay said. “I’m a total advocate of the program.”

The exercises allow students to ham it up, but also generate a desire to know more. On a recent morning, when Melendez was at La Merced Intermediate School in Montebello, Eduardo asked him: “Mister, are you the one who made up the play ‘Romeo and Juliet?’ ”

“No, but I would like to take credit for it,” Melendez answered. “It was William Shakespeare.”

The program was created by Melendez and actor Tony Plana, who stars in Showtime’s “Resurrection Boulevard” and is the executive artistic director for the East L.A. Classic Theatre.

“Most of these kids have never seen a play. They’ve seen a movie, but not a play,” Melendez said. “We used to visit schools as an acting company, and then the school officials would tell us, ‘You know, the kids don’t understand Shakespeare.’ ”

Ofelia Miramontes, an associate professor of education at the University of Colorado at Boulder and an expert on bilingual programs, said using theater to teach English helps students loosen up and speak more freely.

“In drama, you might find words that you never used before,” she said. “A writer tends to write for richness, not just day-to-day conversation. So any of those kinds of experiences help broaden the way kids learn to say things.”

The East L.A. Classic Theatre, created in 1990 as a forum for Latino and other minority actors, seems the ideal company to teach them. It has expanded into a nonprofit multicultural theater group that presents plays with minorities in nontraditional roles.

One of its productions was “Romeo and Juliet,” which was presented with an Asian American Juliet and a Latino Romeo. It staged “Twelfth Night” as well, with African American siblings, Viola and Sebastian. Each year, the troupe visits schools in the Los Angeles, Pasadena and Montebello districts to put on its productions.

“Our mission is to help them see minorities in those roles,” Melendez said. “We want to say, ‘You have the opportunity to do this if you want to.’ ”

Disadvantaged youngsters’ lack of exposure to the arts inspired the teaching program, Melendez said. It was created in 1996 and is funded with federal grants and donations.

Twice a week at participating Montebello and L.A. Unified schools, actors and actresses, such as 30-year-old Jennifer Julian, go into English and language arts classes for two hours.

“We hope the program helps them stay away from dropping out of school,” Melendez said. “They develop their voices and the power that comes from that.”

On a recent morning, Julian directed La Merced students in a scene from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

Kevin Valle, 11, read lines of the character Egeus: “My gracious duck--duke. This man hath bewitched the bosom of my child,” he read slowly, stumbling over words.

“What say you, Hermia? Be advised, fair maid. To you, your father should be as a god,” read Manuel Vizcarra, 10.

Julian interrupted: “What kind of character is Egeus?” she asked the 35-student class.

“He’s an old man!” one student shouted. “He’s angry,” responded another.

Indeed, Egeus is the father of a character named Hermia. He wants his daughter to marry someone she does not desire because she is in love with someone else.

In another classroom assignment, Julian asked students to write a paragraph, then present it in front of the class, on the topic: “We show different sides of ourselves to different people. Why?”

Eduardo eagerly raised his hand to present his to the class first: “I use a different language with my family because they only speak Spanish. And sometimes, when my mom gets a letter in English, I tell her what it means,” he read from a page in his spiral notebook.

Then students were asked to create characters for a play they will write. Ten-year-old Erick Hernandez came up with “Spooky Crow,” a 20-year-old crow that lives outside a farm and relies on his friend, “Mini-me” to scare birds away.

The name might be borrowed from “Austin Powers,” but the plot was original.

“It’s remarkable what this program does,” said Julian, who has been involved with the program for four years. “It teaches kids to really come out of their shells and express themselves.”