Word for Word Youth Arts will conduct its 9th annual in-depth public school residency for two classes of 6th grade English Language Arts (ELA) students at Life Academy of Health and Bioscience in Oakland. Our 10-week residency focuses on the multi-award winning young adult novel, “The Only Road,” the story of Guatemalan cousins on a perilous journey, risking everything for safety. Five professional actors kick off the residency by performing the first chapter of the book in the signature Word for Word style, then our team of two Word for Word teaching artists and a muralist visit students twice/thrice a week for 10 weeks to lead them in devising scripts, staging and rehearsing chapters, and creating mural backdrops inspired by the novel, culminating in a public performance in the school’s auditorium for family, classmates, staff, and the wider community.

Find out more about Word for Word and Z Space at www.zspace.org