Warden students closer to performing life stories

WARDEN - Several Warden High School students are performing life stories on stage in the form of original monologues.

Students are rehearsing for performances of The Warden Memoirs/Las Memorias de Warden, which take place in several Eastern Washington cities. The first performance is Friday at 7 p.m. at Big Bend Community College's Wallenstien Theater.

"This isn't going to be a high school production, but a professional theater production," said WSU Enrollment Management Vice President John Fraire.

Themes include racial pride, artistic and athletic passions, the experience of immigrating into the United States as a youth, and the importance of being in charge of one's destiny.

Bob Felton, a 1963 graduate of Warden High School, is funding the pilot program, according to Fraire.

"The goal of the program is to increase the attendance and retention rates of Latino and other underserved high school students and see higher enrollment in college and community colleges in the state," he added. "A key to the future of Warden is the increase in college attendance and graduation rates. Warden families need their children to be educated and successful."

Students participated in a paid internship at Big Bend Community College, receiving college credit and boarding while they learned their lines.

Senior Frankie Jimenez, 17, said he was unfamiliar with his lines when he arrived on campus last Friday. During practice Tuesday, he recalled most of them.

"We've become a whole new group," Jimenez said.

Some students are telling their own stories, and others are telling the stories of peers.

For Jimenez, the monologue discusses the thrill of wrestling - a retelling of his own story. He said he went to a state tournament and wanted to show people how hard he worked.

It is his first play, but he is confident Friday's performance will go well.

"I'm feeling like I can do it," he said. "I'm not going to mess up, and I can do it."

Junior Angelica Gonzales, 16, signed up for the program at the high school without knowing exactly what it would be. Gonzales noted all the essays she wrote will be useful for scholarship applications.

Fraire said students wrote essays based on questions from WSU's admissions application and the Gates Millennium Scholars application.

Gonzales said she is working to slow down her lines and add more emotion into her monologue, which is not her own story. She was anxious to see how the performances would turn out and what the reactions would be of people she knows.

"If I do get the chance, I will do it again," Gonzales said.

Fraire said he hopes the program can be offered again at Warden High School next year, depending on funding.

Angela Gonzales' fraternal twin, Angel Gonzales, said he was absent the day English teacher Angie Dorman created one class to develop the play. Angel Gonzales was placed into the class where students would be involved with the play.

When he arrived at school the next day, he was offered the chance to switch out of the class.

"I didn't really understand it at first, so I didn't switch," Gonzales said.

He said he has experience speaking in front of others, but no acting experience.

He was most interested in the other perks of the program, such as receiving a paid internship and college credit.

Because Gonzales is participating in a youth conference for underage drinking in Nashville, Tenn., he will miss the first two performances.

Gonzales is involved with the introduction of the play, which includes lines from Shakespeare.

He said he felt ready to perform.

"I'm not so much anxious, as I am excited," he said.

Fraire assigned students essays to write, and the essays were edited by WSU's Writing Center. Then, Fraire and his brother Gabriel adopted them for the stage.

On Friday, students received the expertise of New York City actress and teacher AnaMaria Correa. Fraire said he and Correa have 14 years of collaboration behind them.

"I wanted the students to work with somebody who had professional experience and was a professional actress," he said.

WSU undergraduate Juan Chavez provides live music on guitar.

Fraire said there are many federally funded programs for students, such as GEAR UP and College Bound, but something is still missing.

"There's nothing that really addresses the fact that life is such a performance," he said.

In addition, the program improves student confidence and public speaking abilities, Fraire said.

"Since we're using their own stories, we're using theater to validate their stories," he added.

In addition, Fraire noted the play includes no mariachi band or Mexican hat dance. Instead, the play offers "real cultural development coming from students," he said.

In addition to the performance at Wallenstien Theater Friday, students perform at Yakima Valley Community College Saturday at 7 p.m., at Heritage University in Toppenish Sept. 5 at 7 p.m., and at Washington State University Sept. 6 at 12:30 p.m.

For more information, visit www.performance.wsu.edu.