Here we are. The St. Mel SmArt in the City artists and coaches.

I turned in the writing book to the printer today, I will pick them up tomorrow afternoon following the camp day. That's a major part of my - I mean their - work completed. I spent the past two weeks staying up late, typing the writers' stories, poems and plays. It's going to be a handsome, 48 page book.

This is the introduction:

MIDNIGHT/SUN

Our theme at St. Mel SmArt in the City this year is CONFLICT RESOLUTION. This is a phrase commonly used in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, and students are already familiar with the tools necessary to resolve their daily conflicts. How successfully they – or we, as their parents, teachers, coaches or guardians – are able to resolve these conflicts is another matter.

We have been told to resolve our conflicts with words, not fists. But first we need to understand those words before we can use them effectively. From the first day we broke down words into their roots, to divine their true meaning.

Conflict comes from the Latin, meaning to strike together. Resolution has numerous meanings, including to bring into focus, to break down, to decide, to dispel, to determine, to end.

There are numerous forms conflict can take – the self vs. the other, the self vs. society, person against person, racial or generational conflict, even the internal dispute one can have with oneself.

During our time together, the St. Mel SmArt in the City writers composed poetry, short stories and brief plays based on these forms of conflict. Their conflicts do not always have a “happy” resolution, or any resolution at all. But I saw in every young person during these five weeks the attempt to find resolution or peace in their world, and the strength to accept the outcome.

The day was spent cobbling together our culminating performance. It's a lot of hard work for a team of 8 to 10 year olds, but they are obviously very eager to present this work. The scenes themselves are just great, it's the transitions that need extra attention.

We finally located and assembled the big black curtain we were expecting from GLTF (it had been loaned to the Ingenuity Festival - but the only people who knew that were in tech in Idaho last week) and it is just the perfect width. Tomorrow Jodi and whoever she can get to assist will be putting the silhouettes the campers made onto it, and all over the space.

It's going to be a big day tomorrow, the last day before a performance can be filled with stress - or revelation.