The Snow Goose puppet play as an IB CAS project — Issue 10

There are many opportunities for students to participate in at King’s-Edgehill School, and in particular, International Baccalaureate (IB)  students need to take on a CAS project — creativity, action, and service — as part of the well-rounded investment in developing themselves as globally minded individuals in the IB Diploma Programme.

As part of the Atlantic Festival of Puppetry Arts, I produced a puppet play adapted from the book The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico and asked three IB students to help.

It is a simple story set on the coast of England and the shores of Normandy in 1940, about a Canadian snow goose blown off course and found wounded by a young girl. She brings the goose to a hunchbacked painter who remains outside of society, looking after birds of all kinds and pursuing his painting in an old, abandoned lighthouse. The two unlikely friends care for the snow goose, whose wing heals, and it remains with them for several seasons. When the call comes for all the little boats of England to assist the Allied forces in the evacuation of Dunkirk, the painter heeds the call, much to the chagrin of the girl. The goose flies above the little sailboat as a beacon or angel through the smoke of the shelling and fire until his boat is eventually bombed, and the goose flies back across the Channel, bringing the inevitable news.

It is a book that has touched my heart and soul, and so after building the puppets for months and eventually establishing a rehearsal schedule, I asked KES students Max Proctor ’27, Destiny States ’27, and Adya Pejcelova ’27 to learn the skill and breadth of puppet work and help me perform the play. In two short weeks, their artistic sensitivity, commitment, focus, and joy in participating were phenomenal, and we performed successfully for the festival held at the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts on the weekend of November 1.

I have immense gratitude for their willingness and courage, and commend them for trying this new experience as part of their CAS project.

Karen Jones
Senior School Faculty, Director, Arts