Photo by Harold Shapiro

Becoming an Ally: Workshop and Dramatic Performance Reach Middle School Students

Date: October 20, 2009

Middle school students from districts in greater New Haven and surrounding areas recently came together to learn about becoming an ally during a unique ADL A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute program that included a dramatic performance by Young Audiences Arts for Learning Connecticut about the life of Prudence Crandall, Connecticut's state heroine who established a school for "young ladies and misses of color" in Canterbury, Connecticut in 1833. 

During a three-day workshop, students had the opportunity to learn from others with diverse cultures, backgrounds and experiences that they might not otherwise meet, and to explore the important lessons of being an ally and motivating bystanders to become allies.  Students learned that one person, acting as an ally, truly can make a difference.

The program included a one-woman show by Young Audiences portraying how Prudence Crandall, a white woman, became an ally by opening the doors of her school to black students, reinforcing the themes of the first day of the program.  The challenges, threats, and violence Prudence encountered in response to her courageous decision underscore the valuable lessons of fighting prejudice and being an ally for young people in Connecticut.

The play was followed by an interactive discussion facilitated by an ADL A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE® Institute trainer and small group discussions in which students identified and explored their own feelings and experiences with prejudice and developed strategies to be advocates for equal rights and justice in their own schools and communities.