The Youtheatre Around Nova Scotia

Innovative Collaboration for Mermaid Youtheatre

Now in its nineteenth season, Mermaid’s vibrant Youtheatre continues to explore the contemporary adolescent scene. Under the direction of Christopher Heide, a diverse sale of activities has engaged youth both in Nunavut and Nova Scotia.

The Youtheatre launched an innovative program in the Fall of 2008 in collaboration with Dr. Lorraine L. Lazier, a respected Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist who works in the field of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. The venture, initiated by the West Hants Community Hospital, had as its objective the dissemination of enhanced knowledge of ADHD by means of a theatrical presentation and information sessions.

The project was led by Kaleigh Heide in consultation with Dustin Harvey and Chris Heide. The Youtheatre’s Circle group, including Shannon Moors, Amanda Gaul, Stevie Sewards, Kelsey Carey, Chelsea Pellegrini and James Doran, worked over a six-month period to create a series of sketches informed by their participation in local focus groups which dealt with real-life experiences. The resulting thirty-minute show, which poignantly reflected the multiple challenges faced by afflicted young people as well as their friends and families, was presented in the Spring of 2009 to highly appreciative audiences at West Hants Middle School, Avonview High School and Horton High School in Nova Scotia. The pilot project, known as ISSAATS (In-School ADHD Assessment and Treatment Services) was supported by Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, The Gordon Foundation for Children and Youth, Janssen Ortho and Capital Health Nova Scotia.

The In-School ADHD Assessment and Treatment Services Pilot Project is a collaborative effort involving mental health clinicians of the relevant rural district health authorities, regional school board staff, and community members with specific expertise. The primary goals are to improve access to diagnostic and treatment interventions for youth withADHD (including in-school psychiatric consultation, educational series for the youth, their parents and teaching staff ), and to facilitate the development of mentoring relationships between youth with ADHD and other students or community role models.