Derry play tackling suicide and mental health to help youth in US »
APRIL 28, 2017 Derry Journal
Patrick McBrearty in the leads role as Ryan in ‘Blinkered’. (Picture by Gav Connolly)
Janine Magidman, Teacher from Roosevelt High School, said: “Youth suicide is a troubling and tragic concern. Our group from Seattle were deeply moved by our first experience with the Sole Purpose production of ‘Blinkered’ in Derry in 2016.”
Supported by an Arts Council International Development Award, Patricia Byrne, the play’s writer and Artistic Director of Sole Purpose, will travel to Seattle in May for three weeks of workshops with up to 150 students at Roosevelt High School and other schools prior to a major mental health awareness event in the city. She also plans to meet with schools and theatre venues in Seattle and New York that would be interested in booking a performance of Blinkered in 2018.
Hands For A Bridge Northern Ireland Trip »
MARCH 2015 – The Roosevelt News Blog
Photos by Karinna Gerhardt
Hands for a Bridge Program Receives Award from World Affairs Council
November 2012 – World Affairs Council
Hands for a Bridge is a recipient of the World Affairs Council’s 2012 World Educator Award! We share this award with all the teachers from Cape Town, to Belfast, to Derry/Londonderry, to Seattle. Congratulations to all!
The award recognizes HFBs dedication to increasing global awareness by fostering dialogue about issues surrounding social justice. Over the years, this program has transformed students into global citizens with the vision and resources to affect change in the world. In the past ten years, Roosevelt High School families have opened their hearts and homes to youth ambassadors from Brazil, Serbia, Bosnia, and most recently, Myanmar/Burma.
South African visitors give Roosevelt students lessons on race
December 2006 – By Paul Nyhan, Seattle Post Intelligencer
Seattleites could learn a few things from South Africans, who are only 12 years removed from the racially divided system of apartheid, such as how to talk openly about race, said Pumeza Jonas, who teaches English at Isilimela Comprehensive School in Langa township outside Cape Town. “The difference between Seattle and SA (South Africa) is that people here do not openly address the race issues,” Jonas commented during an interview. “I feel if people … can be more vocal about it, then change could come.”
Meet Dream weavers of positive change »
September 2003 – By ROBERT L. JAMIESON Jr. Seattle Post Intelligencer
Transcendence wasn’t the goal 17-year-old Emily Cadigan had in mind before she underwent her civic transformation this year. “When I signed up [for Hands for a Bridge], I didn’t know what I was getting into,” Emily said with typical teenage bluntness. Emily and nearly two dozen classmates at Seattle’s Roosevelt High performed with students in South Africa. “We became, like, one,” Emily recalled.
Exchange program reaches from Seattle to South Africa »
December 2002 – By LA MONICA EVERETT-HAYNES Seattle Post Intelligencer
The Roosevelt students went to Langa thinking they would learn about South Africa, but they left having learned much about their own culture. “It was hard to come back to interact with people,” said Tam Johnson, a 17-year-old senior. “People are content with their comfort zone, but they don’t know how much more culture there is in our society. They could know.”