Making Books Sing Launches Kickstarter Campaign for Play STICKS & STONES

Making Books Sing, the critically acclaimed family theater and arts education organization, is launching a $25,000 campaign on Kickstarter.com to bring STICKS AND STONES, an interactive drama for middle school students that focuses on bias-based bullying, to as many NYC schools as possible.

Last summer, Making Books Sing ran a successful $50,000 Kickstarter campaign for ALICE’S STORY, an interactive performance and workshop that helps elementary school students understand and deal with bullying.

Alarming statistics about bias-based bullying among adolescents moved the company to create a new program just for middle schoolers:

- Suicide rates among 10-14 year olds have grown more than 50% over the last 3 decades
- Teens ages 12-17 generally believe they have seen violence increase at their schools
- Kids who are obese, gay, or have disabilities are up to 63% more likely to be bullied than other children
- 9 out of 10 LGBT teens have reported being bullied at school within the past year because of their sexual orientation
- 63% of kids with Autism Spectrum Disorder have been bullied

Making Books Sing’s Education Director Brooke Boertzel and Associate Education Director Sara Orr created STICKS & STONES to reach adolescent students, who often encounter bullying motivated by race, religion, gender, sexuality, or disability.

The new program will feature three actor-educators, who stage a 45-minute interactive drama about a boy who is “outed” by another student. Students fulfill three roles during the performance – audience members, critical thinkers and actors. The goals of STICKS AND STONES are to create a safe learning environment, recognize students’ personal responsibility within their larger community, and examine decision-making and the consequences of those decisions.

The STICKS AND STONES awareness and fund-raising campaign will take place for 30 days through Kickstarter.com, the world’s largest platform for funding creative projects. Reaching the $25,000 campaign goal will allow Making Books Sing to bring discounted and free performances of STICKS & STONES to adolescents at New York City theaters, schools, community-based organizations (CBOs) and cultural venues through 2013.

Making Books Sing promotes children’s literacy and social development through professional Theater Productions and arts-in-education programs. Originally the family theater and education program of the Tony Award-winning Vineyard Theatre, Making Books Sing is now an independent nonprofit that inspires children to grow as literate, creative and socially aware individuals. Making Books Sing has reached more than 100,000 kids, parents and teachers with literacy-based arts education programs and theatrical productions in the New York tri-state area. The 11 year-old organization is the proud recipient of support from: National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, Department of Cultural Affairs, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Council Members Melissa Mark Viverito and Jumaane D. Williams, and numerous corporate, institutional and individual donors.