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Changemakers Forum:
Extracting the Gold Inherent in our Youth, Having them Become the Heroes Within Their Own Stories
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Hello Mr. Scruggs!
I am EXTREMELY interested in this work that you are doing around the use of mythological stories in the development of young men and boys! This IS VERY innovative! You mention that you are interested in developing a curriculum and we, at Life Pieces To Masterpieces ( go to www.lifepieces.org for more info.) have also been engaged in capturing and recording our "recipe" for healthy, happy, peaceful young men who promote positive change in their community and ultimately the world.
We do use storytelling, however not mythology. I REALLY find this interesting and would welcome a dialogue about the possibility of us engaging in an exchange.
Congratulations on your work and thank you sooooo MUCH for this innovation.
Peace
Mary Brown
Life Pieces To Masterpieces, Inc.
Hello Mary,
First off, thank you for your comments and interest in our work. l visited your website and had to hold back tears, thank you for the sacrifices you are making for our youth. I am going to email you so we can continue this dialogue, thanks again!
kwame
Dear Kwame,
Your use of mythological stories as an educational and personal growth tool is truly unique. Your entry is very clear and easy to understand. Thank you for taking the time to explain your story and the origin of Alchemy. It is a great story! Could you give an example of a mythological story that you frequently use to provoke and engage youth? How could you develop Alchemy to reach more students? Thanks again for your great entry and for all your great work.
Dana Frasz
Changemakers
The Half Boy
A boy is born with only the right half of his body. Of course he is unhappy and feels desperately incomplete. He becomes a constant source of irritation, embarrassment, and confusion for his family and the entire village. Nevertheless he grows. That is to say, the half of him that can be seen grows. Eventually, he reaches the age of adolescence and puberty. His half ness and incompleteness become unbearable to him. His pain grows more evident and more troublesome to everyone around him.
One day he leaves the village, dragging himself along, the way a half a person drags himself through life. He drags along until he reaches a place where the road crosses a river. At that crossroad, he meets another youth who exists as only the left half, the other half of a person. Immediately, they move towards each other as if fated to join together. Surprisingly, when they reach each other, they begin to fight and roll in the dust. Eventually, they fall into the river. After a time, from the river there arises an entire youth with the sides together. Because he has been in the river and in a great struggle, he feels disoriented and doesn’t know where he stands. Then, the new youth begins to walk towards a village that he sees before him.
As he enters the village, he sees an old man and asks: “Can you tell me where I am? I have been struggling and don’t know where I have arrived at.” The old man says: “You have arrived home. You are back in the village where you were born. Now that you have returned whole, everyone can begin the dance and celebration.” A great dance and feast begins. Everyone in the village joins the dance, especially the Half-boy become whole.
Mahdi, Louise, Carus, Nancy Geyer Christopher and Michael Meade, eds. Pg. xxi. Crossroads:
The Quest for Contemporary Rites of Passage. Chicago: Open Court, 1996.
Discussion
1. What part of the story resonated (stood out) with you?
2. What do you think about when you think about being half?
3. How does this relate to you?
4. How do you feel only ½ of the person you think you should be?
5. What is it telling us that even though he is half still that part of him grows? How does this relate to you?
6. What do you think about him being kicked-out of the village? How does this relate to you?
7. What do you think he is thinking while walking down this long road?
8. What do you think about the crossroads and where he meets the other youth?
9. Why do you think they fought when it was obvious that they should be together?
10. How does this relate to you?
11. Who are you fighting against when you should be working together?
12. What do you think the story is telling us about them becoming whole after a
struggle? How does this relate to you?
13. Since he was in a struggle he felt tired, confused, do you feel this way or different?
14. What do you think about the old man?
15. What do you think about the village welcoming him back?
16. What did you learn from the story?
Various ways for us to reach more students include developing a curriculum; adding myths and discussion questions to our website; contacting organizations, K through high schools interested in our idea of utilizing myth; presenting at national conferences, i.e., NABSE (National Association of Black School Educators); developing a training program for people interested in our idea.
Locally we plan to spread our idea to four elementary schools utilizing our 9th grade as mentors, assisting 48 (12 per school) 5th grade youth in their transitions to middle school. The 9th grade youth will teach them through drumming and myths.