Children’s Bilingual Theater

Name: Jordan Schwartz

Nationality: American

GYV Staff/ Participant during: 2006

Education: High School Junior at the Atlanta Girls’ School

Occupation: founder and artistic producer of the Children’s Bilingual Theater

Most Interesting Country Visited: Ecuador

Favorite GYV Memory: preforming with sock puppets for Cabin Idol

Biography: Jordan Schwartz began in theatre in 2nd grade. When her school offered Spanish in the after-school program she had an idea to put theatre and language together. At 10 in 2003, she founded The Children’s Bilingual Theater and premiered a show in 2004. Jordan started with raising $3,000 in donations and getting schools to host the shows, then 17 kids 2nd grade to college age staged a bilingual play at 4 schools in Cobb County. The Children’s Bilingual Theater not only brought students together, but brought community volunteers to help them make the show a reality. Jordan’s project helps the Spanish first language speakers to improve their English and Spanish second language speakers to improve their Spanish and all benefit from theatre, learn about public speaking and work with a diverse group while exploring Hispanic language, culture and history.
CBT has staged 3 musicals and cast and crew volunteer as literacy advocates with Sheltering Arms, Park Street School and HeadStart programs in Metro Atlanta. CBT has worked with over 100 volunteers, performing to over 3000 audience members and many school audiences. Jordan won a $10,000 DoSomething award  for production costs and received over $20,000 in production grants and scholarships to help sustain the theatre company. In 2007 “Cinderella Eats Rice and Beans” a salsa hip-hop bilingual musical was filmed by a Wisconsin Public Television crew for a segment in “Democracy it is!”, an educational documentary series reaching school audiences all over Wisconsin.

In 2008 in an unprecedented move in selecting a 14 year old, the Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities Organizing Institute chose Jordan as one of six participants to be trained in organizing skills to return to her community to promote systems change around issues that affect people with disabilities. Jordan wrote a bilingual play. “Mr. Ooba’s T.E.A.M.” addresses the issue of bullying of developmentally disabled and medically fragile children and diversity in our classrooms. Jordan’s work with The Children’s Bilingual Theater is an effort to encourage her community to bridge the language and cultural gap through theatre arts and to exemplify and teach tolerance.

IWD-Women’s Day- March 8

Women: They are half of the world’s population, make up 42% of global internet users and control $14 trillion in assets. They also do two-thirds of the world’s work yet receive only 10% of the income. They are disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS. In many parts of the world, they lack basic economic, social, cultural, and political rights.

This Sunday, March 8th is International Womens Day (IWD). It is an international celebration marking the achievements of women and their importance to our future.

The IWD website posts:

“IWD is now an official holiday in China, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The tradition sees men honouring their mothers, wives, girlfriends, colleagues, etc with flowers and small gifts. In some countries IWD has the equivalent status of Mother’s Day where children give small presents to their mothers and grandmothers.

The new millennium has witnessed a significant change and attitudinal shift in both women’s and society’s thoughts about women’s equality and emancipation. Many from a younger generation feel that ‘all the battles have been won for women’ while many feminists from the 1970′s know only too well the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy. With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

However, great improvements have been made. We do have female astronauts and prime ministers, school girls are welcomed into university, women can work and have a family, women have real choices. And so the tone and nature of IWD has, for the past few years, moved from being a reminder about the negatives to a celebration of the positives.

Annually on 8 March, thousands of events are held throughout the world to inspire women and celebrate achievements. A global web of rich and diverse local activity connects women from all around the world ranging from political rallies, business conferences, government activities and networking events through to local women’s craft markets, theatric performances, fashion parades and more.”

Visit the International Womens Day (IWD) website to find an event in your community. Better yet, volunteer with an organization that supports women and girls. Keep up to date on issues affecting women around the globe and inform others. Post links to news stories on your Facebook or MySpace page, etc. Contact your government representatives to voice your opinions and learn more about legislation that affects women and girls. Finally, as authored on the IWD site, “Make every day International Women’s Day. Do your bit to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding.”

Statistics from IWD website: www.internationalwomensday.com.