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Here
you will find various letters from teachers over the years.
You can scroll down through the letters or pick specific
ones that interest you.
Henry
Street High School (2002)
Marden Public School
(1995)
Thistletown Regional Centre for Children and Adolescents. (1986)
Hastings
and Prince Edward District School Board (2003)
Newtonbrook
S.S. (1995)
Rosseau
Lake College (1995)
St. Mary's Catholic S.S.
(2004)
Jarvis C.I. (1997)
J.G. Workman P.S. (1995)
Mountview Alternative School (2004)
Huntsville H.S. (1994)
Portage Ontario. School for young offenders.
(1994)
The School for the Performing and Visual Arts
(1988)
Kumsheen S.S. British Columbia
(2004)
St. Mary's Catholic Secondary School
(2004)
As Dramatic Arts Coordinator at our
school, I feel fortunate to have had his services rendered
as partners in education. My reaction and comments
from other staff members and students at our high school,
are most positive and indeed beneficial. His work is
both lasting and indelible in our minds. In addition,
I find that Steve has a particularly intense and unique
quality in the style of his teaching skills rarely found in
other artists. His techniques as Pantomime artist and
Commedia dell'Arte experiences are most suitable and
complementary to our drama curriculum that I find him to be
a remarkable and well accomplished Canadian artist who
combines: skills, techniques, and a touch of passion to our
schools programme. Thank you.
Frank Spezzano. Drama Teacher
Mountview Alternative School (2004)
Stephen brought a weeklong mask workshop
to the thirty pupils in our junior multi-age grouping class
that was both inspiring and instructive. We are
grateful to have had the opportunity to give each one of our
students a chance to benefit from working with such a
skilled and inspiring professional artist. We learned
so much! The teachers and students at Mountview
Alternative School highly recommend that other schools
invite Stephen LaFrenie to share in such an educational
experience with them.
Jim Giles. Grade 6 Teacher.
Jarvis
Collegiate Institute (1997)
Stephen La Frenie worked with
Jarvis Drama students for five days. During this time
the artist demonstrated excellence in teaching. He was
very precise in his instructions to students, provided
extremely clear demonstrations of the techniques being
taught and delivered his lessons with energy and enthusiasm.
The classes were well paced and the students were constantly
challenged.
The artist assisted in
preparing senior students for working in the area of
children' theatre. The performance pieces they
subsequently developed clearly showed that the students
learned from the artist since every group utilized the
graphic mime techniques taught by Stephen, in their short
plays. With the introductory Drama students, Stephen
was very effective in encouraging them to move, to explore
their bodies in space and to tap into their own creative
energy. He also assisted in pushing the students to
share with honesty. Through specific exercises Stephen
helped students to recognize that exposing ones 'self' is
not only acceptable but desirable and indeed necessary in
the Drama classroom.
As the teacher, I was exposed
to some unique exercises that will be useful in many areas
of the curriculum. I have since used some of the
warm-ups, and plan to implement some of the mime and
storytelling techniques into my program for next fall.
I greatly appreciated the
presence of this gifted artist in my classroom, as did the
students.
Jennifer Burak Drama
Teacher
I am writing to communicate how happy my department was with the work of
Stephen La Frenie when he came to our school.
As department head, I can tell you that the teachers extremely pleased
with the experience. Two of the younger teachers saw it as a very helpful
professional development opportunity: they picked up a great deal over the
past two weeks and feel they will be better drama teachers as a result.
What impressed me the most was Stephen’s willingness to work above and
beyond the call of duty. Beyond his regular stint in the drama classes, he
worked on a special lighting/staging project with our grade 11
communications tech class, offered his expertise in the use of persona to
the students in my grade 12 performance class, and gave interviews to media
students for the radio, newspaper and cable television. As well, Stephen
performed on three separate occasions: the regular Friday show our students
mount, the once a month evening show open to the community, and the weekly
cable television program.
I would have this talented and amiable teacher/performer back any time.
Doug Raisbeck. Head of Communications,
H.H.S.
Portage Ontario. School for young offenders.
(1994)
Mr. La Frenie showed excellent leadership skills. He was patient, yet
firm with some very difficult to work with students. He challenged students
to bring a level of seriousness to their work which they are reluctant to
show, luring many of them to great heights of concentration and commitment.
he created a safe, trusting atmosphere which allowed many inhibited students
to take risks of self-disclosure and experimentation which they tend to
avoid.
...he demanded serious effort, and thought the force of his own
commitment, calm, and confidence, was able to elicit it from most students.
The final product of most students was quite good, and in at least one
instance was breath-taking.
David Burgess. Teacher
Thistletown Regional Centre for Children and Adolescents / Ministry of
Community and Social services. (1986)
Stephen La Frenie provided sixteen one-hour sessions of Mime instruction
to a group of ten emotionally disturbed adolescents at Thistletown Regional
Centre.
His professionalism was demonstrated by his reliability, organizational
skills and thorough knowledge of Mime techniques.
Behaviour problems, cognitive limitations and poor physical abilities are
traits characteristic of the adolescents Stephen and I worked with.
fortunately Stephen was adept at adapting his material and style to the
needs of the group. As a result clients successfully achieved expectations
often considered beyond their ability.
Karen Chadbourne. Recreation Therapist
The School for the Performing and Visual Arts
(1988)
Your work on July 7 and 8 with the students of the School For The Performing Arts was
very fruitful. We presented you with several challenges: the students are
extremely varied in their level of ability; in the case of the junior class,
the energy level is very high; the size of the classes is unwieldy. In spite
of these hurdles however, I was extremely impressed by two elements in your
class: the level of control, and the quality of the product that emerged.
You are very patient with the students and are not afraid to use your own
skills as a performer to hold their focus. The acting teacher, Brian
Van Norman commented that he noted some new skills in the
students as a result of your class. I have no
reservations about inviting you back another season.
Betty Recchia. Co-ordinator
Our staff and students were captivated by your performance from the
moment you appeared on stage. I Believe that the enthusiastic response that
you received from us says it all. Your rapport with your audience, the
quality of your professionalism and creative talent.
F. Sandford Principal
Marden Public School
(1995)
Comments from Marden P.S. staff re:
"Etienne and The Sleeping Beauty".
"It was great the way he took
comments the children were making and worked them into what
he was doing. He knows how to talk to/work with
younger kids. The Kindergarten children were
thoroughly enjoying themselves. Wonderful!"
"One person playing many characters
is a new format for most of the audience, yet the actor was
able to captivate the children and they were able to follow
the story without any difficulty. I liked the fact
that he involved the children, responding to their comments
by improvising. He also was able to get them rolling
with laughter, yet keep control!"
"I enjoyed watching the kids
faces. They were enthralled - even the Grade 3's were
not too sophisticated to enjoy Fairy Tale. You
did a great job!"
"I only saw a little but it was
wonderful. My class told me all about it and are still
talking about it."
H. Iutzi. Principal
Rosseau
Lake College (1995)
"Rosseau Lake College
was very fortunate to have Stephen La Frenie work with our
students for one week. Stephen provided workshops for
the whole student body that concentrated on improving the
students' skills in voice tone and body language.
Mr. La Frenie was well
prepared for each workshop and the students responded to him
extremely well. He had the students performing in
front of the class, expressing themselves in voice tone and
body language, showing them how to respond in a job
interview process and they prepared a critique of their
peers. The workshops improved the students' ability to
express themselves in a positive manner.
The College was very pleased
with Stephen and we look forward to having him next year.
Gregory C. Devenish,
Headmaster.
Newtonbrook
Secondary School (1995)
Newtonbrook Secondary School
would like to thank you for his creativity and dedication to
the Dramatic Arts Department for the week of November
27-December 1. During this time he worked with grade
9-11 drama and dance classes and was able to present
material appropriate for each level and discipline.
His friendly and approachable manner provided a positive
learning environment, giving all students the opportunity to
benefit from the theatrical skill being taught.
Stephen's professionalism and
enthusiasm came through in his teaching. It was a
pleasure to have Stephen here and we hope to have him return
in the future to enrich the students' education and
compliment the department's objectives.
Carol Welton, Joanne
Fagan, Evelyn Dunn
Hastings
and Prince Edward District School Board (2003)
We have just completed a
three day tour of the Mask Messenger with Stephen La Frenie
and I wanted to let you know how well this show was received
by staff and students alike. The grades 8-OAC
audiences ranged in size from 100 to about 250. In all
cases the students were fully engaged in the performance and
asking for an encore at the end.
...I was thrilled with
Stephen's performance. The show was magical, powerful,
and captivating. Students were not only entertained
but also informed and educated about the use and history of
masks. At one of the schools I had my fifteen year old
son and two of his friends in the audience and they
described it as 'awesome', '10 out of 10' and 'great'--high
praise from fifteen year old boys!
I was able to attend 5 out of
6 shows and can attest to the consistent professional
presentation and attention to the questions from students
that Stephen exhibited. We would welcome Stephen and
The Mask Messenger with no hesitation to our system again.
It was undoubtably the best secondary level presentation
that I have seen.
Susan M. Davies. Arts Co-ordinator.
Henry
Street High School (2002)
I am a student teacher working at Henry Street High School
in a grade 9
and grade 12 drama class. Today I accompanied my classes to
a mask workshop held at Sinclair Secondary School. The
workshop was performed by Steven LaFrenie. I found the
workshop to be extremely helpful in coming up with various
ideas for lesson plans for my classes. At the end of the
performance, Steven touched upon some of his prior acting
experiences including mime, which happened to be a
topic that I was teaching to my grade 9's in the afternoon.
When class time came, they were inspired and
eager to learn about mime and to move into doing some
studies on commedia. My students, as well as myself, found
the workshop both informative, educational and entertaining.
They were quite impressed with the range of ability of
Steven vocally and physically. Another great concept was the
direct interaction with the students throughout the
presentation. I
think that it helped connect the students to the history
involved in masks as > well as the "how to" aspect of mask
work. Overall, the performance was enjoyable for all who
attended and the acting and teaching abilities of Steven
LaFrenie are indeed a credit to all who watch the
performance. I hope to see more shows of this nature as I
enter into the teaching profession and will continue to
support any programs which make learning fun and enjoyable
for students. Keep up the excellent work!
Corrie Mund. Preservice Teacher at Henry Street High
School, Whitby Ont.
Kumsheen Secondary School
(Lytton, B.C.)
October 25, 2004,
Meta-Physical Theatre,
Dear Actors;
A big “Thank you!” from Kumsheen for your
performance “Fool’s Gold” October 5th. It’s not often that
performers hold the attention of our teenagers as you did and I’m not
sure who enjoyed your performance the most, the students or the
staff. Whichever, it was great. It’s all
about the money! The play’s plot line held our attention but this
could only have happened due to the wonderful acting. The actors
conveyed their passion for acting and working with a young audience.
The students liked the “slap stick” style comedy and the humorous
antics. Adding masks to impart identity was a terrific idea and
allowed for one actor to be several people. Fooled the audience!
The teacher who took digital pictures will be
forwarding them soon. Any play reviews written by students will be
forwarded to you as well. It is always
exciting when “real actors” (as opposed to those on a video) visit our
school. Be assured that your visit was greatly appreciated and will be
the topic of conversation for some time to come. Thank you for your
presentation.
Yours truly,
Judith Urquhart,
Principal
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