AWARDS AND PRAISE FOR COYOTE'S CHRISTMAS CAROL!
Malcolm MacDonald accepted second prize in the Marilyn Hall Youth Theatre
Awards
for Coyote's Christmas Carol January 31, 2005. The
ceremony, held in the Crystal
Ballroom
of the Beverly Hills Hotel, also celebrated another "Carol" with a
tribute to
the legendary Carol Channing on her 84th birthday.
A SAMPLING OF EMAILS FROM
2004-2005:
(I omitted the teachers' names, but left their
text exactly as written.)
Oh, thank you so much! The
kids and I had great fun, and I believe my friend and ESL teacher, Meg, sent you
an email asking of the "Spanish Edition" if it even exists. We share two boys
from Mexico who will participate in the play, but they speak no English. It
was sweet feeling the excitement in the air of the classroom today as they began
to practice. We laughed a lot! It's just great Thanks. In appreciation,
Stanwood
Middle School Stanwood, WA (north of
Seattle).
I am a
drama teacher in Florida. We are reading your play in class, and we
LOVE it! Very funny, a great new twist on the Dickens classic! Thanks,
Cocoa
High School,
Drama/English Dept.
As the
conclusion, we did it well... the production this year was different with your
"Coyote's Christmas Carol" that we all had positive attitude towards the
production... We made one man play all the roles that other spirits did... As
the result, I, playing the part of Scrooge, won the best actor prize in the
contest. I cried during the play and mainly focused on the theme...
30th Inter-High School Drama Festival, Tokyo, Japan
I've had
the pleasure of reviewing your play "Coyote's Christmas Carol' and although I
haven't completed reading it yet I really appreciate the interpretation and the
theme you have applied to the play. I'd be interested in producing the play as
a project for our drama club. Please let me know if you need any further
information. Thanks and best regards,
Calgary Science School,
Alberta Canada
I teach a
christmas carol and was looking for different ways to present it to my kids. i
loved the multicultural aspect of your play. thank you so much. we read the
play in class. my kids LOVED it! they thought it followed the story and had an
interesting twist to it. as a teacher, i would love for you to do several more
versions so i could use them in class too!
way to go!
Scottsburg middle school in Scottsburg,
Indiana
I am an ESL teacher in
Shanghai,
China. I have
one optional class where I can teach English outside the thinking box of Chinese
headmasters. I saw your script and found it very interesting. Wish you a
prosperous and happy life.
Shanghai,
China.
I am very interested in this
play (Coyote's Christmas carol), Our school has grown very fast the past decade
and is now over 50 percent hispanic and I am in need of material to get these
Hispanic students excited and involved. Please send me a script and I will send
whatever you need for documentation.
Mt. Pleasant High School, Hooks, TX 75561
I would
really like to use your play Coyote's Christmas Carol in my classroom for the
holidays. Thanks so much for making these things available to teachers!!!!!
Sincerely,
North Chatham Elementary Chapel Hill,
NC
I'm an
English teacher at ROE Alternative Program school in Zion,Illinois.Our middle
school students, as part of a service learning project, spend 2 hours a week at
a long term medical facility,Sheridan Health Care Center.As part of that
commitment they read plays,perform skits,do improv,etc.We would like to perform
Coyote Christmas Carol(one time) for the patients and staff at Sheridan.
ROE Alternative Program, Zion, Illinois
My kids
are reading your play in my class now as part of our 7th grade English Language
ARts curriculum, and they enjoy the humor and how closely it matches the Dickens
story. I'm learning a lot of Spanish too! I plan on showing A Christmas Carol
movie next week, and having the kids write comparative essays on the two
versions.
High School Drama, Dallas, TX
Hey
there! I am hoping that you have this great piece of work available in Spanish
for my Spanish speaking students. I've looked online and haven't been able to
find it. Is there place I can get it?
Appreciatively,
Lincoln Middle School, St Louis
Hello, my
name is ________. I teach Spanish to 8th graders. Our Reading and Language
Arts teacher stumbled upon your script to "Coyote's Christmas Carol" on the
internet when looking for info. on the Dickens' classic to use in her
classroom. . It appears to be a wonderful medium for teaching the traditions
and lessons of the Mexican culture and the Christmas season. Muchas gracias,
Albuquerque, NM
I am an
8th grade teacher interested in doing your play and I was wondering how I
ordered it. We will rewrite it a little as we are in
Southern Illinois, but we love the pizza man and some of the other more
modern ideas. Thanks so much.
Dix, IL
I teach at
Polk Middle School in Albuquerque, and we are encouraged to teach culturally
relevant literature to our predominantly Spanish-speaking students. I wanted to
teach Dickens' Christmas Carol, but I think your version is so much cuter, not
to mention very relevant to our kids' culture! We also have a drama club here
who might be interested in performing the play next year. Thank you for your
prompt reply,
8th grade Language Arts,
Polk
Middle School Albuquerque,
NM
87105
I teach
Drama at a small Cree First Nation school in Onion Lake, Saskatchewan (CANADA). I am
interested in receiving the complete script of your play to use in my drama
class. What I have read so far is great. Thanks for giving us access to it.
Cree First Nation
school in Onion
Lake, Saskatchewan (CANADA).
Hello, my
name is _______. I am a Jr. High Drama teacher in Arvin, CA. I was
just going crazy looking for a play script that would be appropriate for my 7th
graders. Your script is perfect. We have a 75% Hispanic population here and all
of the drama students are of Mexican heritage. I read some of the play to the
students from the internet and they cannot wait to get into production. I am so
grateful that this play is out there I would gladly pay any royalty you my need
to collect. It is very generous of you to offer this play to schools like ours
and I hope we can bring this play to our stage. Thank you,
Haven
Drive
Middle School, Drama Director
I'm a
mexican teacher, that works in a bilingual school in Monterrey (México) and I
would like to
represent your play for the parents of our school. So if it's possible please
send me the last five pages
of the script. Thanks,
bilingual school
in Monterrey (México)
Thank you
so much for sending us the play. I got the play approved by my principal. She
loves it! A lot of our students can identify with posada, tamales, etc. from
the play. She also said that I can invite you to come watch your play being
performed. We are located in Anaheim. I hope that you can make it.
Betsy
Ross
Elementary School, Anaheim CA
My name is
_____ and I am teaching at an International School in Auckland/New Zealand...
Now we are planning to put something else on for our Christmas celebration. The
Students suggested the Christmas Carol. I found your generous offer on the
internet and would love to use it. I found your idea with the cultural
background very appropriate for an International School as our students are
coming from many different countries in the world. Thanks again for the
friendly offer; I am hoping of hearing of you very soon, Warmest regards.
Auckland International College – AIC, Auckland NZ
I am
looking for a good christmas play for a children's afterschool theatre program.
Could you please send me a copy of your wonderful Coyote play?
Port St Joe,
FL
I am an
English teacher in Kino Bay Sonora Mexico and am
considering your play for the class activity. As a Canadian living in their
country, I hope that by my work at the school and help from people like yourself
I can give back some of what I've gained and help the youth to build a better
future. Sincerely
Kino Bay Sonora Mexico
Would you
please email me a copy of your Carol script? I am an actor, teacher and
director currently working as Director of Education at a Community Theater.
I'm very excited about your script! I like the ideas and the scenes and the
writing -- everything! I think it would be great for our community. I like
Coyote and La Llorona too! La Llorona is in my first play called
Intrepido.Thanks so much,
Director of Education at a
Community Theater, Northern CA
I just
read the first page of your show and would like to get a copy of the script. I
have been teaching theatre for 18 years and am currently at
Dumont
High School in
New Jersey. I
always try to do different things with the advanced class and this looks like
something they would enjoy
Dumont
High School in
New Jersey.
My kids
loved Coyote's Christmas Carol! We read it as a class, but didn't perform it.
They had a lot of fun reading something culturally relevant, and they educated
ME on a lot of stuff too! We had a great time learning together. I'm going to
pass it on to our after school drama teacher to see if she wants to think about
doing it next year!
Wirt
County
High School in
West Virginia
The
students loved doing the play! For a lot of them, it was their first exposure
to 'A Christmas Carol'. We invited staff to come watch the students perform
(they still used their scripts) and everyone was very impressed. Thank you so
much for such a wonderful play!!
Walnut Health Systems
I just wanted to let you
know that the kids loved reading this play! They all (8th graders) felt the
ending was a bit abrupt and that it would have been better to have Scrooge "do
something" rather than just making a bunch of promises. (I hope that didn't
sound too skeptical, because they really did like the play. That was their only
criticism.) Thank you very much for allowing me to use your play in my
classroom. It was very useful in teaching about Mexican culture and customs at
this time of year.
8th grade Lang. Arts Cayuga Middle School Texas
it went
well -i used it to develop character traits and how a character can change from
the beginning of the story to the end as always wish their had been more time to
fully develop the creative possibilities thanks, thank
you for remembering me and for sharing your wonderful play with me. It's
definitely top-shelf Christmas fare.
King
Middle School, Portsmouth, NH.
The play
went wonderfully. The girls were really good and did an excellent job. Thank
you so much for sending me the remainder of your play. The principal has the
pictures on her computer and will be out for the next few days. When she gets
back I will ask her to send you a picture. Thanks again.
Summit
School
I am an
8th grade teacher at
Athens
Middle School
in Athens, Illinois. The students read the play the last few days before
Christmas break. We did not actually perform it; however, students did take on
different roles. The students really enjoyed it. It was refreshing and a break
from tradition. Thank you for sharing your play with us!!! I wish you all the
luck in getting this published and out to the public in a larger scale.
Athens
Middle School
in Athens, Illinois.
Read and/or purchase Coyote's Christmas Carol
© 2004