December 23, 2024

Linking Northern and Central NJ, Bronx, Manhattan, Westchester and CT

Reflections Program at Yavneh Academy

Each year Yavneh Academy sixth graders look forward to a visit from the program Reflections, a Teen Improvisational Theater program run out of the Bergen County Division of Family Guidance. Actors from local high schools are trained to do “improv” about social/emotional topics and present to younger students. Dr. Aliza Frohlich, Director of Guidance for the Middle School at Yavneh Academy and Mrs. Block, Reflections program director, planned this year’s program about Peer Pressure, to coincide with the students’ Advisory unit on Friendship and Relationships. Students were able to volunteer, act, and interact with the actors as they portrayed two scenarios- a child feeling peer pressure to misbehave in class and a child feeling peer pressure at his own house to violate his parents’ house rules. Students received the message in a humorous and creative way. Yavneh’s own Elie Fried, Max Krantz, Eliana Suldan, and Adam Varnai played the roles of teachers, parents, and students in the improvisational scenarios, without any practice. The sixth graders were able to relate to the scenarios and were able to identify with pressures presented. The program concluded with a discussion about the strength it takes to stand up to peer pressure and how to do so effectively.

Leave a Comment

Most Popular Articles