To the parents of the students at The T.EC. Schools. Think. Explore. Create,

My name is Dave Malinsky. I am an actor and historian from NYC who has been helping children at The T.E.C. Schools unleash their performance potential. 

When Mr. Johnson asked me to come help the students here at The T.EC. School prepare for their poetry recital, I was deeply intrigued, but nervous. I had made a brief visit to the school last year, and I was extremely impressed with what I found. While not familiar with Montessori education, I saw the effect it—and the particular S.T.E.A.M.- and community-engagement- focused style of T.EC.—had on fueling these bright young minds’ desire to learn deep, hard and well. 

These impressions were further solidified as I was in residence here in the week before the poetry recital on April 12th. I saw more student work that was more advanced than when I was their age. And I saw even more students with that burning hunger for knowledge. Could I serve these students the quality work they deserved? They had already mostly memorized their poems, but they needed coaching on how to truly bring these diverse works to life. 

I began by giving them a set of physical exercises for their body and voice common to actors. They were told to find calm and control through stretching each of their limbs and their whole forms. Then they would stretch their verbal instruments specifically by stretching their mouths through stretches, vocalizations, breath control and tongue-twisters. The intent was to get them to be present and aware of every part of their body to use in their performance. Such bodily awareness and personal management is essential in performances and beyond. 

We would then go through the poems one by one in small groups. I would get the students to think: what are the emotions this author is trying to express? What does he (or she) feel? What does he want his reader—or in this case audience—to feel? I wanted the students to know “Who am I? Who am I talking to? Why?” Asking such questions is essential to any performance in all sorts of contexts. 

I was astonished to see the improvements the students were making so quickly from day to day. The quiet ones would speak up more, those who rushed would slow down, the unsure of stance would find confidence and those who were confused would gain clarity. A course of stretching and questioning was doing wonders. Parental assistance doubtless played a critical role as well, and is always greatly appreciated. 

This work culminated in the recital on Thursday, April 12, where I and no doubt you were blown away by your children’s commitment to presenting their best selves. Major thanks must be given to T.EC. staff, whose graciousness and support was crucial to the success of this production. I was honored to be asked to assist here at The T.EC. Schools and look forward to visiting again next year. 

Sincerely,

David Malinsky

David Malinsky is an actor and historian from New York City. He has written historical plays and articles and performed in independent feature films.