COVID-19 closures - IUN’s Capstone Class for General Studies

Meg DeMakas wears many hats — community activist, teacher, founder of Family Folklore Foundation, and college educator. And the Crown Point resident has found a way to combine all of those skills.

The challenge of putting together a unique project, Happy 50th Earth Day, Moonwalkers during the current Pandemic didn’t faze DeMakas or her current Indiana University Northwest students.

“The project this year, as in any year, is what is topical. Our world celebrated the Moon landing and the 1st International Earth Day 50th Anniversary, so that seemed like a worthy study for our participants,” said DeMakas, who served as the coordinator of the unique project that included a Radio Show and Puppet Play.

“We gear our projects to include expeditions to various key places, interviews of key people, as well as on-line and book research.”

As part of IUN’s Capstone Class for General Studies, Cultural Journalism, the students are developing myriad of skills. They were working in tandem with the Family Folklore Foundation, which DeMakas heads, with a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, South Shore Arts, and the National Arts Association.

Utilizing studio equipment, researching Northwest Indiana history and developing the craft of using puppets to put it all together in a three-act radio show are some of skills the IUN students have developed.

Since this year’s new academic semester began in January, DeMakas and her pupils had accomplished quite a bit before stay-at-home orders were issued for the COVID-19 pandemic.

The students combined their research to use their creative skills in developing characters to be reflected in their puppets.

They visited two local elementary schools in the area to perform puppet plays to hone their new-found talents.

“I was excited to be working with little kids,” said IUN senior Brittany Hulen of Crown Point. “We went on field trips that helped broaden my knowledge of areas close to where we live. Education-wise, I learned how to better entertain children.”

They students enjoyed field trips to the IUN Archives Library to research northwest Indiana history, visited the Challenger Learning Center in Hammond and made a stop at the Griffith Railroad Museum.

IUN senior Gurpreet Kaur of Crown Point commented that she would recommend DeMakas’s class to other students who want to have an exceptional experience before graduation.

“I took this class because it is a requirement for me to graduate, and when I found out the course material I got very excited,” she said. “I love to adventure and learn. I never did puppetry before, but I really enjoyed it.”

The original plan was to perform the play in public but those hopes were dashed when closures amid the stay-at-home order was announced.

Nevertheless, all was not in done in vain.

“The students learned more about themselves and their own grasp of their world through our experiences,” DeMakas said. “We soul-searched while developing an appreciation of our corner of the universe and that we are all world citizens.”

Developing the skill of taking their research about important historical figures — and creating monologues for the radio play, which they then reenacted — was no small task, according to the instructor.

“I really enjoyed playing the puppet, ‘Piglet’ because piglet was always in a good mood and upbeat,” said IUN student Jessica Adamczyk of Portage. “It reminded me that I need to stay positive in life and look forward to graduation.”

The online version of the radio/puppet show currently is on the back burner.

“We will do our presentation at the Nest Art Gallery in Michigan City at a later date, and edit a video version for an online show,” DeMakas said.

Although the IUN students, who are in their senior year, will have graduated by that time, they will have the opportunity to still participate in the show if they desire.