We are Take Off the Mask Kids Opera Company.  On the first day of school when the class was presented with the mask and I asked, “How will the mask help in our learning this year?” Jasmine G suggested a powerful metaphor that has informed our instruction and our decisions as a company ever since. In thinking about who we are and whom we represent, Jasmine also offered a new word she had encountered in song lyrics.

The word . . . invincible. This led us back to the mask. How can we be invincible if we don’t take off the mask? In the process of determining our company name, students generated other metaphors and possible names that would help us present ourselves to the world. But, when company members broke into small groups to defend the name they thought absolutely best to represent us as a group, Take Off the Mask was the obvious choice.

Defending the company name…

Andrew’s reflection after determining company name.

Introducing the company…