This is what goes on at the school where Affirmative Action Jackson is a board member:
The show, written by Steven Sater with music by Duncan Sheik, follows a group of teenagers coming of age in 1890s Germany and addresses depression, addiction, suicide and sexuality.
“It’s about teenagers growing up and discovering things that they aren’t told by their parents,” explained Eli Faber, who plays Hanschen, one of the adolescents.
Sexuality is a major theme throughout the score, which features songs like “Touch Me” and “The Word of Your Body,” as well as the explicit “Totally Fucked” and “The Bitch of Living.”
Fourth-grade teacher Julia Tomasko explained the assembly, saying, “In these scenes, the students learn about pride, activism, and what it means to be an ally.”
“In order to center and uplift LGBTQ+ voices, the scenes are inspired by lessons we taught, as well as the experience and knowledge of students and staff in the community,” she said.
After explaining what the acronym “LGBTQ+” means, one fourth-grader said, “there are many, many more identities in the LGBTQ+ community that we haven’t learned enough about yet. They are important and we will learn more.”
One of the central themes of the presentation was that being an “ally” was not enough, favoring activism.
“Now let’s look at a quote from Audrey Lorde, a famous poet and activist who described herself as black, lesbian mother, warrior poet,” one fourth-grader said. “She said, ‘You do not have to be me in order for us to fight alongside each other.'”
Yet another fourth-grader said, “being an ally is all about showing up pushing back and taking action.”
https://theaugurbit.com/2021/05/16/in-show-filmed-in-person-gds-theater-presents-and-undergoes-spring-awakening/
