Pushcart Players received a generous grant from Pine Tree Foundation of New York to sponsor a year-long residency of theater arts education at The Learning Center for Exceptional Children in Clifton, NJ. The program involves story-telling, performance, puppetry, and creative writing for students on the Autism spectrum and with other cognitive and physical disabilities. Pushcart's teaching artist is Gerald Fierst, internationally recognized story-telling and author of children's books. This is a poem written by one of the students.
"The Secret Ingredient is Love"
"Near the monkeys, Under the leaves of a big, big tree, The root becomes yellow and crescent moons. Chop, slice, taste, Smooth and hard becomes gooey. A sweet rot fills me with the memory of Grandma and I dancing. And then a plate of plantain, rice and beans, Smacking lips of love."
