By CASEY NEILL
MAKING a song and dance about self-esteem had a big impact on Noble Park students last week.
The Nubian Gents performed at Noble Park Secondary College last Wednesday, using dance to inspire teens to pursue a love for life-long learning and discipline through the arts.
The New York group seeks to address issues around low self-esteem, identity, negative peer pressure, bullying and low productivity.
“As a school, we really do care about our kids and the welfare of our students is of greatest importance,” acting vice-principal Helen Karagounis said.
“If they’re not happy, they’re not learning.”
She said students were hanging off every word from the performers and heard their messages loud and clear.
“The kids didn’t want to go to recess,” she said.
“They were just sitting there and wanted to ask questions.
“It was visual, so language barriers didn’t matter.
“We have students from non-English speaking backgrounds who arrived six months ago.
“They would have got it. They would have been able to connect with it, too.”
Ms Karagounis said the biggest thing students took from the performance was that “they can do it”.
“Irrespective of where they come from, what they’re about, the baggage, the negative stuff that can happen in life – that they matter,” she said.
“That they are individuals. That they don’t have to be anything else but themselves. People will accept them.
“It was quite obvious that the dancers had a few issues in their lives, and have been able to work through it.”
Students and teachers joined the troupe on stage, fostering connectedness.
“I don’t think the kids have seen us in that light for a very long time,” Ms Karagounis said.
The Noble Park Secondary student representative council (SRC) organised the event.
“We’re going to tap into the SRC, made up of school leaders, look at other projects and workshops to continue that momentum,” she said.
“Our kids are resilient. It’s just good to have a reminder every now and again that you’re not alone.”
