Evan Hansen...You Will be Found

The above video was created from a musical that is quickly becoming one of my favorite musicals.

My students absolutely adore this musical and I just wasn't even sure what it was about...

But then I did a little research and actually gave it a listen...

I was blown away...

and can totally see why my kiddos loved it so much!!

From NBC Nightly News, February 24, 2017. 

Part of the way that "Dear Evan Hansen" explores its theme of connecting is by incorporating social media into the show, both in the story and physically on stage.

'I think social media has amplified this sense that we are connected, but ultimately we are doing it in front of a screen and we are in these isolated pods ... but our generation and the time we are living in now, people are lonelier than they have ever been,' Pasek said.

The leader of a student group, Meredith Boyan, was encouraged to use the show as a teaching tool after taking her students to a performance. 'I think we're gonna probably have a lot of conversations about feeling alone and how to reach out to people,' she said. "And I know I'm definitely going to highlight the resources we have at our school for kids to get help if they're feeling like they need help, and I actually have a sign on my door that says it's a safe place for kids to come to talk — so I think that's going to be a highlight in our school.'The show’s inspiring anthem resonates, as it tells all that even if at times you feel invisible, you will be found."

From across the silence you will be heard...
I love this musical so much...not necessarily the honoring of someone who did something repulsive in the face of death...but what topics come from it...

I can totally see, in today's explosion of internet and social media, which at times can be anything but social how we can get lost from anyone's sight. It is so easy to blend in and to feel like you are unimportant. And it has motivated me to be more to my students, to encourage them that they have a voice, that that voice is important and that they can belong to a family, a support group, and that they will indeed "be found".