Project ACT

Presentation Description

Project ACT was an interactive Forum Theatre presentation, written by Rex Deverell, that aimed to help students in grades 7-9 recognize and overcome barriers that prevented them from leading active, healthy lives. Developed in collaboration with Ontario youth and Community Partners from across the province, Project ACT empowered students to incorporate the Foundations for a Healthy School into their lives and communities. Accompanying teaching guides and resources were designed to activate manageable changes for the student community, helping educators integrate healthy initiatives into schools long after we left the building.

Project ACT was an exciting province-wide initiative supported by the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion’s Healthy Communities Fund.

Presentation Topics

Physical Activity
Healthy Eating
Substance Misuse Prevention

Tour Details

This presentation toured across the province between 2010-2011. It was performed in the following areas:

Northern Ontario – Thunder Bay, Sudbury, North Bay

Eastern Ontario – Ottawa, Kingston

Western Ontario – Windsor, Hamilton

Central Ontario – Halton and Peel Region, York Region, Durham Region, Toronto Region

How did Project ACT work?

Project ACT was an Ontario-wide three-tiered approach to empowering students to live active, healthy lives.

90 minutes

Developed in consultation with youth and community partners, “Project ACT – The Play” followed four friends as they tried to make sense of mixed messages about physical activity, healthy eating, and substance misuse while turning their school into a healthier place. Each character relied on unhealthy coping mechanisms for the everyday stresses in their lives. The Joker guided students to replace the actors on stage and change the outcome. Whether on stage or watching their peers, it was an immediate way for students to step into someone’s shoes and think about what they would do in similar situations.

45 minutes

After a short break, students were split into small discussion groups with local health and wellness experts. This expertise in physical activity, healthy eating and substance misuse prevention gave students and educators the opportunity to discuss the issues in more detail and link them with local resources.

Ongoing

Project ACT continued as students put their learning into action. Mixed Company Theatre’s website, the Project ACT Study Guide and other healthy living resources were designed to activate manageable changes in student communities, helping young people organize initiatives to help make their schools healthier.

Suggested activities might have included special announcements and posters, guest speakers, and activity days. Schools were encouraged to work with existing school committees and connect with local community resources. Initiatives and events could have been recognized by the Ontario Ministry of Education Healthy Schools Recognition Program.

Testimonials

“Empowered youth get involved when they can explore, discover and feel they have a voice. Mixed Company Theatre provides an opportunity for witnessing and then participating. A perfect mix creates safe dialogues about important health issues and weeks of integrated follow up activities help build healthy communities. This show inspires everyone to re-think, re-work and reinvent themselves.”

– Patricia Gough, Artsaround Program Director & Retired Elementary Principal

“The McGuinty government is committed to improving the overall well-being of individuals and their broader communities. Working together with organizations like Mixed Company Theatre will help Ontarians enhance and maintain their most valuable asset – their health.”

– Honorable Margarett R. Best, Minister of Health Promotion

Project Supporters

Mixed Company Theatre shares common goals, objectives and interests with the following organizations in supporting physical activity, healthy eating and substance misuse prevention among youth in communities across Ontario. In an effort to expand outreach efforts and services to youth across Ontario, MCT established working relationships with each of these organizations to achieve goals that we mutually believed were important in improving the lives of Ontario’s youth. The goals of these community partnerships were to collaborate on Project ACT and build on each others’ strengths with the aim of empowering students to live active, healthy lives.