Olinder school play tackles tobacco

BY SANDI FERNANDEZ
Special to the Mercury News

``Good girl, good death!'' director Jesus Reyes calls out to 11-year-old Amanda Zabalza as she falls to the stage during rehearsal of ``The Butt Stops Here,'' an anti-smoking play presented by the Olinder Youth Theatre group.

She was acting out the play's message: Tobacco kills.

The 15 second- to fifth-graders, mostly from Olinder Elementary School, helped write the two-act play, a collection of skits, songs and slides telling the dangers of tobacco.

Funding to produce the play was provided through a grant to the Olinder Neighborhood Association from the Santa Clara County Health Department with funding from Proposition 99, the Tobacco Tax Initiative.

The Olinder project targets elementary-age pupils because studies show by the seventh or eighth grade, 33.1 percent of students already have tried cigarette smoking.

``We primarily want to convey the message to children to be aware of the consequences of smoking. Some are starting up as young as 9 years old. We want to advise them before they even experiment with it,'' said Joe Silva, director of the anti-tobacco project.

Silva introduced the anti-smoking campaign at Olinder through workshops. The school also held a poster contest and had anti-smoking T-shirts made. Students wrote the script for the play in two weeks. Silva wrote the songs, and Reyes compiled the script and directed.

``We want to spark an epidemic of non-smokers,'' Reyes said. ``We're also hoping that the family members of these kids will quit (smoking).''

It worked for Rachel Murillo. The 10-year-old's mother stopped smoking because of her involvement in the play. ``I hope she doesn't start again because it (smoking) gives me a big headache. It stinks,'' Rachel said.

Nick Zabalza, 12, wrote one scene from the play. ``I wrote the part about baseball players dying from chewing tobacco,'' he said. ``I know they do it a lot.''

His 7-year-old sister, Christina, said, ``I want people not to smoke because they could get killed by cancer.''

The play is also a part of the neighborhood's effort to build community pride.

``The community is working to develop an association that can become self-sufficient in dealing with issues of crime, drugs, graffiti and police protection,'' said David Ocampo, the community's coordinator for the city of San Jose's Park, Recreation and Neighborhood Services. ``We're working toward a master plan.''

The students performed the play last week and will do it again Friday and Saturday. The last performance will also have a barbecue, musical entertainment, games and booths at William Street Park beginning at 5 p.m.