“Can you feel it, the wave of change?”
The audience who attended Wave of change on Wednesday, May 29—the show that ideally concluded the 2023/2024 school year and the theatrical journey of the Don Carlo San Martino Institute—not only had the precious opportunity to feel it: they became its protagonists, just like the children and young people who tested themselves with determination, courage, and a great desire to succeed on the stage of the San Luigi Theater in Concorezzo.
The event (coordinated by Prof. Elena Redaelli) involved students and teachers from our school, committed to giving substance to the theme of the year: “Connections from the world – Let’s tune in”. During the show, everyone, from the youngest to the oldest, demonstrated with authenticity how one can express oneself through words, silence, gestures, and movements, sharing their creative potential with others and building effective relationships together. Thus, the colorful flight of butterflies, or small dandelion flowers, staged by the nursery and preschool children at the beginning of the performance, symbolized the small and large transformations that happen in everyday life. Because, let’s admit it: changing (just like facing a stage for the first time!) can be a bit scary at any age. But with the right recipe, made of encouragement and love, it becomes a challenge full of emotions. The young students know this well, having tested themselves throughout the year by facing various adventures. Parents and teachers know it well too, having guided them through a daily journey of growth.
The Primary school section, with the support of the teachers, interpreted the theme of “Connections” with a genuine reflection on the importance of diversity and the value of friendship. “Nature teaches us that diversity is a resource; it is what makes us stronger. The evolution of the species occurs by following the wave of change, which is what creates biodiversity. If we were all the same, unable to change, we would have been extinct long ago,” remarked one student. “Nature does not judge. It observes and listens. It has no masks because it does not fear fragility. It does not fear fragility because it sees its richness, because it knows that it is in this fragility that true humanity resides,” added a classmate. In the hall, there was heartfelt applause followed by silence: sometimes, it is the simplest words, those spoken by a child, that leave a deep mark on the conscience of “grown-ups.” To trigger the wave of change.
The young men and women of the secondary school also prompted the audience to reflect on how necessary it is to establish a deep connection with the world around us if we want to be conscious citizens and make a difference. “It is useless to live in a world of communications if we no longer know how to speak heart to heart,” emphasized a young actress, whose words recall the warning of Don Carlo San Martino: if the education of the heart does not come first, the torch of science will be nothing but a charcoal ember. A touching moment was the interpretation (in English) of Tanya Streeter, world freediving champion. “There’s no need to fight each other. I just want to say that your heart is the size of an ocean. Go find yourself in its hidden depths.” “There is no need to wage war on each other. I just want to tell you that your heart is as big as an ocean. Go and find yourselves in its hidden depths.” A reflection from that young voice that guides us to have the courage to see the infinite possibilities that life can give us if we know how to listen. Because, in the end, the truth may scare us, but it is simple: down there, in doubt, in fears, on the wave of change, we are never alone.
To close on a high note, an exceptional protagonist: the legendary blue whale (8 meters long), assembled by the third-year secondary school classes using plastic bottles after watching the documentary film A Plastic Ocean.
At the end of the evening, before the final farewells, the awards ceremony took place for the second-year secondary school students who, for the AIDO educational project, interpreted the values of the Italian Association for Organ Donation through their drawings. On the podium were three girls from our Institute: Camilla Ripamonti (third place), Vanessa Curioni (second), and Greta Vergani (first).
On the way home, thinking back to Wave of change, adults, teenagers, and children held each other in an ideal embrace, as Severn Suzuki (played by a third-year secondary student) reminded us during her speech at the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992: “I am only a child, but I know that we should hold hands and act together as one world, to achieve one single goal.”
Article written by Professor Pozzoli
Photographs by Professor Bonfanti
