MOUNTAIN YOUTH DRAMA
Russell
County Virginia
Contact: Lori Gates-Addison, CPP, LCSW,
Director
lgates@cmcsb.com
If you are a former cast
member and would like
to have your comments posted,
please contact Lori at
lgates@cmcsb.com
Thanks!!
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_________ Dear Reader, In high school, I felt that I needed something in my life. Something with meaning, something that could reach me as well as others. Then one day I attended a show called Mountain Youth Drama, and as I set there, I watched these kids have fun. They sang, they danced, they acted and I wanted so badly to be a part of that. I auditioned, made the cut and bam, I was in for the ride of my life. MYD was a great opportunity to show kids outside of the group how to handle the pressures of sex, drugs, parent abuse and many similar topics. It was in MYD where I met and made my best friends that I now have in college. MYD helped me come out of my shell and to share the fun with other viewers. I felt like I was apart of a great team, better yet, a family. It was always rewarding when after a show, a kid would stand from the audience and say "Hey, my parents do drugs, and you helped me see how to handle that." It was always rewarding to see the smiles on the people's faces when they watched a funny skit or saw somebody on stage accidentally mess up. I had so much fun being a part of MYD. I loved it dearly, and I endure all of my memories that I had growing up in high school and being in the group. MYD also helped me get over problems I had. If there was a problem anybody had in the group, Lori Gates-Addison, the director, was sure to be there to comfort and talk to people about their problems. MYD was a social family and we weren't afraid to share feelings. Being in college, I miss that, because there are no groups like that around and if there is, then I certainly do not know about them. If I could, I would do MYD all over again. It is part of who I am, who I've become and a part that I will still grow into.
Sincerely, _________________________ (Your Life is In Your Hands News Paper Article) Mountain Youth Drama helped everybody. It helped those who saw it and it helped us too. I always wanted to get closer to people and the group helped me do that. That’s what it’s all about! Touching others and allowing ourselves to be touched. We all have hearts. Opening up to the world makes us human beings in a human world. Mountain Youth Drama showed us how we are all human and how we all need other people to really be human.
Beth Smith
If I could say anything about my life during the time I was in Mountain Youth Drama, it would be acceptance. It was a place where I could go and be my self and have a ball doing what I loved to do. It’s important for kids to have an outlet, its important for everyone to have an outlet. I know that now more than ever. Thanks for all you do!
Kaitlin Dodi _____ MYD is a good activity for kids to do that may feel angry or alone because it brings people together and lets you express your emotions so that you don't have to hold it in side. There was always some one there to talk to if you needed it. MYD is a good warning program because it can demonstrate warning signs of troubled kids to mass amounts of people so that everyone will know what to look for and who to help.
Jenna Nichols,
High School Valedictorian __________________________________________________________________________
To MYD Kids Being a Member of The MYD Team was an Experience that everyone should have. we were members but We never Got to stay and Perform. We came from in From a Diffrent State and Community. we also Came from a Drug Home. and never said anything. We would Go to school and Not talk to anyone we Met. But one Fall Afternnoon after school we Walked down the Road and Heared a Bunch of Singing Kids in a Gym Area of a School. As we walk in We Notice a Bunch of Kids that we Saw at School on that Very stage dancing and doing what they love . we never Knew that The singing We heard Would Change are Lives . Those Kids We saw On that stage Ended Up being are Best Freinds and Family. We also Ended Up going to every Practice they ever had . We grew To know every Persons Life, Dreams, goals and Fears. The Next year we Knew What to do. in 2001 we Were apart of that Family. and knew thats what we wanted. MYD Changed are Lives. and if it was not For Lori and MYD Then we would Have went to the Wrong Direction. If you want to be a apart of a Team and Family. I would recommend You Go walk Down Lebanon and Follow The Singing.
Thank you MYD Josh and Sarah Wheeler
Josh Wheeler
Sarah Wheeler
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