Don't Forget the Stars

Submitted by watson.to on Thu, 12/11/2008 - 18:37.
Last updated on Thu, 12/11/2008 - 18:37.

Vital Stats

Project Type: ongoing project

Start Date: 06/01/2008

People Impacted: 40
People Involved: 6

Project Video

The Problem

I am helping the Roxbury community in Boston, Massachusetts. I am spreading the awareness of depression, fighting the stigma associated with mood disorders, and promoting suicide prevention.

Why It's Important

I wrote a play, Don't Forget the Stars, to spread awareness of depression, fight the stigma associated with mood disorders, and promote suicide prevention. My cast and I are going around to Boston Public high schools in the Roxbury area and performing for 9th-12th graders. I am doing a collaboration with music therapy and how it can aid in the process of treating depression. I have created a compilation album that contain everything from hip-hop to rock to alternative music. After each performance I hand out the mixes to the students.

The Plan Of Action

I wrote the play and as time went on, edited it. I did research on depression, bipolar disorder, and self-injury for information packets that I hand out to the students after each performance. I contacted, set up meetings, and scheduled performance dates with many Boston Public highschools. I put together a cast and held practices every week. I contacted numerous music artists to seek their permission to use their songs on the compilation album. I went around to different companies seeking donations to pay for copies of information packets, blank cds, and props.

Project Updates

No updates found!

Final Grant Update

08/2/09

Tonita Watson

Number of people in the organization: 6
Number of people impacted: 400
Describe the impact the grant had: DoSomething gave me the means and funds to really propel my project and make it a better overall production for the commiunity.
Project highlights: Three highlights of my project were the actual play performance, the compilation albums that were given out, and the information packets that were given out. All three of these highlights were aimed at making my community more aware about depression and suicide prevention. My even bigger aim was to educate and inspire my community through music.
How did the project unfold and develop? My project has been very successful. My cast and I travelled from high school to high school in the Boston area and performed the play for and gave out compilation albums to ninth through twelfth graders. The students really seemed to appreciate the production put on and the albums given out, and at the same time became more educated about depression and suicide prevention.