Telling Stories: How Parents Help Share MWAH!’s Message

At MWAH!, we believe that the best way to share a message is to share a story. When we share a story in our show, we try to connect with the people involved in the story, sometimes even inviting them to speak at our shows.

Jennifer Higgins with a picture of her son, Joshua.

One story that we tell is of Joshua Wilson, a twelve-year-old boy from Geneseo, Illinois, who committed suicide in seventh grade. Joshua’s mother, Jennifer Higgins, came to our show this past Monday, February 9, and told the audience about her son. She talked about how Joshua had struggled with some depression after his parents’ divorce in 4th grade and how he got bullied when he was in 5th grade. After he moved to a new school in 6th grade, she said, things started to change. He was happier, he had really good friends, and he was doing well in school. When he committed suicide the summer before 7th grade, no one was expecting it, because Joshua never told anyone he was struggling.

Joshua’s mother, through tears, reminded students at Central High School in DeWitt, Iowa, that talking about what is going on in your life is so important. She encouraged, even begged, them to open up to someone, anyone, about their struggles.

Later in the show, Landon told the story of nineteen-year-old Keenan Clousing. Keenan was adopted by Joel Clousing and his wife when Keenan was just 20 hours old. Keenan was a talented athlete, and as a freshman in high school, he was on the fast track to becoming the starting quarterback for the varsity football team at Wheaton-Warrenville South High School.

The problem came when he began smoking weed at age thirteen. He moved on to harder drugs, and by sixteen he had been kicked off the football team. Drugs took over his life, fueling his ego and destroying his future and his relationship with his family. At seventeen, he dropped out of high school. He was steal from his parents to buy drugs, even going so far as to steal his father’s wedding ring. His father had to help bring him back from multiple drug overdoses, as well as visit him in rehab and jail. Keenan’s life was spiraling out of control, and try as he might, he could not get it back. Kennan died from a heroin overdose on March 1, 2014 when he was only nineteen years old.

Joel Clousing with a picture of his son, Keenan.

Keenan’s father, Joel Clousing, has become a valued partner in sharing MWAH!’s message. Joel often travels with the troupe, sharing Keenan’s story with the students we visit. He tells about how, no matter how bad things got with Keenan, their family always had hope, and so did Keenan.

After Keenan’s death, Joel shared with our troupe what he thought Keenan would want to say to students if he were still around to tell his story. Joel said that Keenan would say two things: “You are good enough.” And, “Don’t do it, because it will do you.” When Joel visits schools with MWAH!, he also reminds students the importance of being a good friend. At Central High School, Joel told students that they needed to learn to support each other, to walk beside each other through struggles and pain and even addiction.

MWAH! deeply values all the parents, friends, and siblings who have shared stories of their loved ones with us, even though those stories might be painful. We are thankful to Jennifer and Joel for carrying on the stories and lives of their children in a way that brings life, courage, and help to other children who need it.

St. Raphael Catholic Church Performance

On January 25, 2015, MWAH! Performing Arts Troupe did a show in Naperville at St. Raphael Catholic Church for high school age students  from Catholic youth groups in the Naperville area. On Sunday night, they gathered in the chapel at St. Raphael for the performance.

Every MWAH! show opens in a similar way: Taylor introduces the troupe before introducing Levi, who begins that narration through the different “pieces” that MWAH! does during the performance. These pieces, often accompanied by pictures and sometimes followed by songs, tell the real life stories of young people who have faced deep struggles and how they have dealt with them. On January 25, Levi told stories of Mike Brown and Ferguson, Eric Garner and the officers killed in New York City, and Demario Bailey’s death in Chicago.

Zorian telling the story of the Charlie Hubdo shooting and the protest marches that followed

Later, Zorian spoke of the Charlie Hebdo shooting on January 7 this year. He talked of the millions of people in Paris and around the world who marched under the banner of “Je suis Charlie.” He also spoke of those who marched in oppostion to the “Je suis Charlie” marches. These were his words:

“There were others, however, although fewer in number, who marched with the slogan ‘Je ne suis pas Charlie,’ meaning ‘I Am Not Charlie.’ These protesters perceived some of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons as over the top to the point of being too offensive, too irreverent, to anti-religious, and too provocative. So we have a continuing war of what we believe and how we express our beliefs, and whether we should be able to express our beliefs no matter how agreeable or repugnant, even hateful, they may seem.”

Sophie playing violin for “Nothing More” following Chad’s story of Nelson Mandela

Later in the show, troupe member Chad talked about Nelson Mandela and his fight against apartheid and racism in South Africa. He told the audience about Mandela’s time in prison and his later election as the first black president of South Africa. He reminded students that Nelson Mandela’s message, to both blacks and whites, was to learn to be humble and kind, to relearn how to love and to forget the hate we have been taught. Chad’s narration was followed by the song “Nothing More” lead by various troupe members and accompanied by a few students from the youth groups that were in attendance at the show.

Many other topics were discussed at the MWAH! performance at St. Raphael. Topics from suicide and teen drinking, drug addiction and child abuse, to diversity and inclusion. MWAH!’s goal as a troupe is to start a dialogue about things students might be struggling with, opening the door for them to talk to teachers, youth leaders, or friends about the difficulties they are facing. Sometimes the topics we cover seem dark or too deep for the young people we speak to, but we have seen, time and time again, that often this is exactly what students need to spark a conversation that leads to them getting help in the struggles they are facing.

That is what matters to MWAH!, that students are getting help, that they are reminded that they are not alone, and that they come to see hope as something they can reach for.