Collective Worship (S): Photographic Memories

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AGE: Secondary

THEME: Photographic Memories

PREPARATION:

Bring together a group of students who are interested in performing this presentation, the tone of which is light but thought-provoking. The school clowns might like the job.

The presentation is based on what happens to us when we compare photos of ourselves as much younger children with the person we are now. It is organised for 3 speakers (who can read from scripts) but you could involve more students if you prefer.

You will need a system for showing the photographic images. (e.g. an overhead projector or you could record the images on video and show them on a TV set or video projector.)

You can view/download larger versions of the pictures here:-
Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 Photo 5 Photo 6 Photo 7

You have the option of re-writing this material after substituting these photos with old photos of one of your students (or even a member of staff) - if you can find anyone brave enough to agree.

THE PRESENTATION:

NOTE:

Speakers 1 and 2 know Tony.
Speaker 3 doesn't know him.

The speakers move to the centre to begin the collective worship.

SPEAKER 1:	This morning we are going to take you for a trip down Memory Lane.
SPEAKER 2:	Can you remember what you were like when you were little? I mean a really, really little kid.
SPEAKER 1:	Maybe you're too cool and mature to think of yourself as a kid but, let's face it, we all started out as babies.

[Now show Photo 1]

SPEAKER 2:	Have a look at this baby. This is a photo of Tony having a bath. His mother said; "He always loved being in water!"
SPEAKER 1:	Tony is nearly twenty years old now but this picture was taken when he was only six months old.
SPEAKER 2:	(to Speaker 3 and the audience) We're going to show you some photographs of Tony at different ages and we want you to try and guess what sort of person he is now.
SPEAKER 1:	Remember he's twenty years old now and he's at university. The question is: what do you think he's studying there? I'll repeat the clue we've already given you - His mum said "He always loved being in water!"

Speaker 3 has been studying the photo and wants more information before trying to guess.

SPEAKER 3:

What's he got in his hand?

[Now show Photo 2]

SPEAKER 2:	It's Tony's trumpet.
SPEAKER 3:	Trumpet? To me it looks like one of those toys for making bubbles?
SPEAKER 2:	Maybe it is but to Tony it was his trumpet. He discovered you could make excellent noises with that - so he did - for hours. Nearly drove his parents nuts.
SPEAKER 1:	His grandmother told everyone that Tony was very 'musical' and that she wouldn't be surprised if he became a musician.
SPEAKER 2:	Tony went along with the idea just to keep his grandmother happy but at that time he wasn't really sure what he wanted to be when he grew up.
SPEAKER 1:	So can you guess what Tony is studying at university?
SPEAKER 3:	Music?
SPEAKER 1:	Nope. You need more clues.

[Now show Photo 3]

SPEAKER 2:	Aaaah! Here's another photo of Tony taken on his birthday. He's two years old.
SPEAKER 1:	And look what he's got - a pair of amazing red shoes with white curly-swirly lines on them. Actually they're clogs - made of wood and painted red.
SPEAKER 3:	Clogs?
SPEAKER 1:	Dutch clogs. They were a present from his uncle John who had just married a woman from Holland. Tony loved those clogs.
SPEAKER 2:	He thought he was 'a way-cool dude' and made everybody who came to their house look at him walking around in them. In fact, he became a right little show-off!
SPEAKER 1:	It's true - he thought those red clogs were the best shoes in the world.
SPEAKER 3:	I wouldn't be seen dead wearing clogs!
SPEAKER 1:	You can laugh but I bet you wore some weird stuff when you were two.
SPEAKER 3:	(changing the subject) Are these clogs a clue to guessing what he's studying at university?
SPEAKER 2:	Maybe. And here's an even better clue...

[Now show Photo 4]

SPEAKER 2:	Here's Tony aged nearly four. And now his favourite thing in the whole world was his 'Transformer'. That's what he's hugging there.
SPEAKER 1:	He really loved that Transformer and played with it for hours. His dad asked him why he enjoyed it so much and Tony said he liked machines - especially machines that can make other machines.
SPEAKER 2:	His dad told everyone that Tony was very 'imaginative and mechanically-minded' and that he wouldn't be surprised if Tony ended up being a mechanical engineer.
SPEAKER 3:	Is this another clue?
SPEAKER 2:	You're catching on fast.
SPEAKER 3:	So he's studying mechanical engineering at university, is he? Learning how to design machines?
SPEAKER 2:	Maybe. But don't forget the red shoes.
SPEAKER 3:	(incredulous) He's learning to design shoes?
SPEAKER 1:	You're getting warmer.
SPEAKER 3:	I've got it - he's learning to design machines that make red shoes?
SPEAKER 1:	Wrong.
SPEAKER 3:	(getting frustrated) Red machines that make shoes?
SPEAKER 1:	Let's get another clue.

[Now show Photo 5]

SPEAKER 1:	Here's Tony when he was five. He went into his 'intellectual period' and decided he wanted to become world champion chess player because his best friend at school had learned to play.
SPEAKER 2:	So he asked his mum for a chess set but she came home with a draughts set instead. Tony wasn't too impressed but his mum advised him to become world champion draughts player first.
SPEAKER 1:	So what is Tony studying at university?
SPEAKER 3:	Learning how to play chess?
SPEAKER 1:	No. Remember; his father said he was good with machines.
SPEAKER 3:	Learning how to make chess sets?
SPEAKER 2:	Don't forget his grandmother said he might become a musician.
SPEAKER 3:	(struggling) How to make musical chess sets?
SPEAKER 1:	And his mother said he loved being in water.
SPEAKER 3:	(desperate) Making musical chess sets you can use in the bath?
SPEAKER 2:	I think it's time for some more clues...

[Now show Photo 6]

SPEAKER 2:	Let's jump ahead a few years and make this really easy for you. Tony worked hard at school and did pretty well in his exams. And then that big day came... his eighteenth birthday!
SPEAKER 1:	Here's Tony celebrating his eighteenth birthday with his family and friends. Everyone had a great night.
SPEAKER 2:	After school he took a year off to explore the world before starting university.

[Now show Photo 7]

SPEAKER 2:	He went to India and trekked around the Himalayas and then went to Vietnam, Laos and Thailand.
SPEAKER 1:	This is Tony white-water rafting down a very long and beautiful river there. He looks very happy in (STRESSING IT) the WATER again, don't you think?
SPEAKER 2:	So what is Tony studying at university?
SPEAKER 3:	(frustrated) I haven't got a clue.
SPEAKER 2:	Correct!
SPEAKER 3:	(confused) What??
SPEAKER 2:	You're right!! There's no way these clues can help you find the answer.
SPEAKER 3:	You mean you don't know the answer either?
SPEAKER 1:	We know the answer - he's studying French and German languages.
SPEAKER 3:	(flabbergasted) Well! What's that got to do with little red shoes and transformers and water and playing your trumpet in the bath?
SPEAKER 1:	Nothing.
SPEAKER 3:	(furious) What are you going on about?
SPEAKER 1:	Ah, well - as Tony's grandfather said; "You are connected to the past but you wouldn't want to be a slave to it, would you?"
SPEAKER 3:	Is this another clue?
SPEAKER 1:	No - it's the moral of this story.
SPEAKER 2:	It was a trick question - there's no way of knowing what will become of you by looking at what you've done in the past. Can you tell what sort of a person anyone will become by looking at them when they are very young?
SPEAKER 3:	Maybe - a little bit.
SPEAKER 2:	Exactly - a little bit.
SPEAKER 3:	I still don't understand - what's the point of this story?
SPEAKER 2:	You can look at a kid and have a vague feeling about what sort of person they'll be when they grow up! But it's a mistake to label that kid as 'this' or 'that' and give them no space to grow! The point is this - we grow and we change.
SPEAKER 1:	Tony's grandmother said he'd make a good musician but Tony chose to play his own tune... he's more interested in languages.
SPEAKER 2:	Tony's mother would have been very proud if he'd become a world champion chess player but Tony has always played his own game - whichever game he was most interested in at the time.
SPEAKER 2:	Tony has always been an independent thinker. People laughed at him when he wore his funny little red clogs but he kept wearing them until they didn't fit... because he liked them.
SPEAKER 1:	Tony's father said he's mechanically-minded and it's true - he is good with machines - but that doesn't mean he has to make that his career. (To Speaker 3) Do people make assumptions about you?
SPEAKER 3:	What sort of assumptions?
SPEAKER 1:	That you're the same person now that you were years ago? That what you're interested in hasn't changed. That your personality hasn't changed. That you haven't grown at all.

[Now show Photo 1 again]

The Speakers turn their attention to the audience.

SPEAKER 1:	What people think about you - good or bad - is not quite as important as what you think about yourself.
SPEAKER 2:	The people and events in your past that have made you what you are today are not powerful enough to keep your personality immobilised.
SPEAKER 3:	We are always growing, always changing, always learning, always developing.
SPEAKER 1:	Do you ever look at photos of yourself when you were really young? There's probably some laying around at home. It might be worth looking at them.
SPEAKER 2:	Are you a different person now from the young kid in those photos? What has changed about you? What has stayed the same?
SPEAKER 3:	Will your personality change in the future or will you stay pretty much as you are now? Who do you want to be? Have a think about it.

The Speakers leave the stage, ending the presentation.

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