"Why are we making a big deal out of this? Because it is a big deal."
At last week's red-carpet premiere of a film made by students in challenging circumstances, social worker Alan Corbeil said, "There's a lot of research out there that really supports arts in work with at-risk kids."
The film was the product of the second year of the BEATS program, which stands for Building Expression and Awareness Through Theatre and Sound. It premiered at the North Battleford Public Library Tuesday, June 16, with the participating students arriving by limousine to the cheers of the crowd gathered along the red carpet.
"If this doesn't stand out in their memory as a positive moment where they've achieved something successful I don't know what else will," said Corbeil. "That's why we do this."
The BEATS program is a partnership between Prairie North Health Region, where Corbeil is a clinical social worker, Living Sky School Division, Light of Christ Catholic School Division, the provincial Ministry of Social Services and the Corrections and Policing Division of the Ministry of Justice. There are representatives from each partner on the core team, said Corbeil.
The students and staff, working mostly as equals, had only 13 weeks to compete the film, he said.
"This is a miracle that we pulled this off," laughed Corbeil.
He added, "We did the storyline ourselves and it really does have a message."
The film featured children learning life lessons while sitting at a crackling fire with their Kokum, with all the acting done by the students. Music and effects were also done by the students with the mentorship of program staff and guest experts.
But, said Corbeil, the program wasn't really about the film.
"Last year we made a music video," he said. ""It was not really about the music video, it was not supposed to be the world's best show. What's really supposed to happen is the journey, and everybody knows it's more important than the destination."
A second video presentation featured a look at the BEATS sessions and the participants on the journey toward increasing the positive experiences in their lives.
"This is not only just an important program for learning how to express things that are on the inside … we've exposed them to a whole lot of skills on how to deal with emotions, how to deal with problem solving, how to deal with communicating … and more importantly how to work together."
It takes teamwork to produce something as complicated and difficult as a film, he said.
"It is not something for the faint hearted. There is a lot of tension, a lot of struggling a lot of communication skills, a lot of patience and deep breaths."
Corbeil said the BEATS program is not the same as any other arts program out there.
"There are many good things that come from arts programs in most schools, but this one is a little different because we have a group of people that are really estranged from most settings."
At-risk youth are those kids the mainstream system has tried to help, but which is just not meeting their needs, said Corbeil.
"If you've gone through a lot of traumatic experiences in your life, you tend to withdraw," he said.
It doesn't always mean someone has been treated harshly. Sometimes it's because they've been exposed to a lot of negative experiences.
"What happens when you've been through a lot of traumatic experiences, you withdraw, you isolate, you say, 'Screw everybody else, I'm just going to worry about me,’" he explained. "And when you just worry about you, you really never ever make friends. There's a lot of healing that has to happen and you cannot do that on your own, but it's a natural reaction to pull back."
Corbeil added, "We've probably all had that experience at one time, but when you've had more than four traumatic experiences in your life, something changes in our heart, in the way we handle our emotions. You kind of go into very angry place and it's very frightening to step out of your comfort zone."
The BEATS program helps students come out of that comfort zone. It improves attendance, academic performance and interest in become civically-minded, being a good citizen and caring about society, he said.
The program's influence is underlined by how it is affecting the staff as well, said Corbeil.
"The staff are having moments of revelation … they've come to me with some personal changes they've felt in their hearts and I think that just speaks volumes," he said.
The BEATS program this year focused on four areas — helping students recognize self awareness, learning how to improvise with what's available to them, adapting to circumstances and, not just surviving, but thriving.
Recognize, improvise, adapt and thrive.
"That's what we're introducing to these kids this year," said Corbeil. "I think they've done a good job of taking in those key words."
Corbeil and the participating students expressed thanks to the staff, partners and supporters of the program, as well as to David Allan, principal of Manocowin and Phoenix Schools, who will be retiring at the end of this school year.
In their remarks, students Serena and Talia said, "A big thank you to Mr. Allen, for supporting the BEATS from start to end. You will be missed dearly." They added, "We shine brighter than your head tonight!"
Allan said, "The kids have done a superb job."
To the students, he said, "You've stepped out of your comfort zone … that's when we learn things."
He thanked Corbeil, who has been working with at-risk children in the Battlefords for 13 years, for the time and effort he put into the BEATS program and into the ECLIPSE judo program.
"It's Alan who's the creative genius behind this … and I want to thank him very much."
Each student received a gift in recognition of their efforts, with Talia receiving a special honour.
Corbeil said, "There was one person that really was an anchor, one student that really stood and really earned a special place, because this person was every single female role in our movie … and this person was an anchor and a leader on the set."
In thanking the partners in the program, he said, "This program is very much dependent on partnerships."
He said it was great to see so many people turn out for the premiere.
"You know the saying, 'It takes a village to raise a child,'” he said. "Isn't that what we're doing here today?"
