Our new awesome van!

Esmeralda Planet Protector leads the way to a greener future! 

We are so excited with our new van. It's a big step up for a small theatre company. Thanks to our friends at Vancity Credit Union and to a BC Creative Spaces grant, we were able to fulfill a dream to have our own vehicle. It will save us about $14,000 a year in rental costs! Not to mention, we are going to have our awesome logo - designed by our friends at Junxion Strategy -  on the side very soon. Here's an artist's rendering of what that will look like: 

The van has enabled us to travel across the lower mainland, sharing the creative and cultural values of live theatre, music and film while imparting life-affirming values regarding environmental, social and historical issues to over 19,000 children this past fall, and over 46,000 more children this coming spring!

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Vancity and the Province of British Columbia.

How to Make a Kind "Self-Care Chart”

I’ve always found that tracking my progress in a chart usually doesn’t work well for me. Maybe it’s because of my rebellious, independent streak, but they seem too rigid to me. I miss a day of exercise and they seem to frown at me, with a glaring blank spot where my day's report ought to be.

However, I also lose track of the things I know I need to do if I want to take good care of myself. So over time I’ve developed this chart, and it’s working really well for me. I thought you might find it useful.

On a whiteboard, down the left hand side, I have symbols for the self-care things I want to remind myself to do. Up top, I have the days of the week. Every week I erase the squares and redraw them. Neatness is not required! (obviously). 

My reminders include doing tai chi, swimming, eating vegetables, taking my supplements, being in nature, resting, meditating, playing music, and connecting deeply with the beloveds in my life.  

There are no 'shoulds'. This week I haven’t danced yet, and I haven’t been taking my medicinal tea. Everything else is going pretty well. So, hey, not bad, I say.

If I’m just wandering around listlesslessly, or bored, I check out my chart and see what I haven’t done yet today, of my possible self-caring things. And I pick one. 

Let me know if you have different ways of using it or tweaking it, I’d be interested!

Happy New Year!

Planet Protector Academy! A game you play, a story you're part of.

DreamRider is thrilled to announce our new, fun, easy-to-use eco-curriculum for grades 3-6.

Kids and teacher Tannis Fisher having fun and learning with the Planet Protector Academy, June 2012

It's a game and a curriculum, it's digital and real-life, it's fun and it's meaningful, and it creates real-world change!  80-100% of families in our tests changed their eco-habits because their kids were in the Academy program. "The highlight of our term." - R. Webber, Quilchena Elementary. 

The Planet Protector Academy has been created by DreamRider's veteran team of engagement experts, led by Ian Gschwind and Vanessa LeBourdais. "The Academy is a 360 degree interactive learning adventure for elementary school classrooms," says LeBourdais.  

"Kids get to be Apprentice Planet Protectors attending the Academy, with awesome characters interacting with them from the screen in front of the class. Apprentices form teams, play games, do fun multi-learning style, arts-based activities, and learn.

"And because they're so engaged, they go out and change the world - measuring the change they're making as part of the game."

Here are Esmeralda Planet Protector and her sidekick Goober welcoming kids to their first class at the Academy:

And here are some grade four boys from our test of the Academy, screaming with excitement about writing, learning, and their mission:



Here's a screenshot from the website that takes classes through the Academy:

A screenshot of the Academy website - as easy to use as pressing "next"!

Download a sample Teacher's Guide to find out more.

Great for teachers:

• Easy – Requires almost no teacher prep – it’s “plug and play”. You just need a computer and a screen to project our website onto, or a Smartboard. The website takes you through the modules, as easy as clicking "next"!
• Fun –  “The highlight of our term.” – R. Webber, Quilchena Elementary
• Flexible – Take five to nine weeks to complete the 9-module program
• No cost – Thanks to Vancity and TD Friends of the Environment the $300 per class fee is covered in Max 3 classes per school at 32 schools in various Metro Vancouver regions.
•  PLOs – multiple links to Grade 3-6 arts, sciences, languages & social sciences PLOs.

 Great for kids!

• A game you play – in four teams, kids compete for points in the Academy.
• A story you’re part of - “Like going to Jedi school!”
• Lessons to learn – learn about climate, weather, energy and transportation.
• And real life missions too! - kids go on four missions at home

Great for the planet!

• Changes behaviours of families – 80-100% of kids got their families to change their environmental behaviours in our tests.
• Measurable change - the program is built around measurement - it's part of the game!
• Creates a new identity as a Planet Protector - the children become characters in our story world - and they become real-life protectors of the planet, too! -  with ID cards, certificates, and most importantly, the experience of actually changing the world!
• A laddered approach to change - we start with engagement and storytelling, then we deepen understanding, then we give the kids progressively harder missions where they can build on their successes. 
• Changes include: energy and transportation issues. 90% of grade fours in our tests got their families to drive less!

What's included:

•  Nine Modules of Fun Eco-Learning
• Access – to our online site, with classroom videos, easy program instructions, etc.
• Teachers’ Guide – Easy how-to guide, with background info, PLOs, additional activities, and more. Created by a teacher, for teachers.
• Classroom activities – fun, multi-learning style activities like drawing, acting, writing – solo and in teams.
• Videos - Online funny videos that guide you through the program
• Music - For the class to sing along to.
• Booklets – 16-page “Mission Books” for every child in your class
• Printables – Certificates, papercrafts, etc.

Interested? Get more Info:

Contact: Jenn Hogg  jenn (at) dreamriderproductions.com

Our deepest gratitude to our fantastic, long-term supporters, who made this program possible:

On location for our new classroom game!

We just wrapped our first videos for our very first Planet Protector Academy interactive classroom game. We are very excited. It was a blast shooting in the woods. Here are some behind the scenes pics from our shoot.

Sara Holt reads her lines as Esmeralda Planet Protector

Goober (Ian Gshcwind) gets ready for a shower

Sara and Ian taking a break between shots.

Sara and Ian having a snack

Vanessa LeBourdais making a Fabulous Director pose.

Our crew, Jenn Hogg, prepping the next scene.

DreamRider's Undercover Superstar: Jenn Hogg

Jenn Hogg,
DreamRider's awesome Booking Coordinator

A peak behind the scenes: meet one of our undercover Planet Protectors, DreamRider’s Booking Coordinator, Jenn Hogg. Not all the people who work for DreamRider wear funny costumes, but the awesome folks behind the scenes are as important to our success as those getting all the applause.

DreamRider is a virtual team, which means that Jenn manages relationships with more than 300 Metro Vancouver schools from the comfort of her home office. “That means thousands and thousands of emails, and hundreds of phone calls," Jenn says. "Schools are always really busy, so I have to be persistent – but I try not to be annoying!”

“Jenn has done an especially amazing job this year,” says Executive Producer Vanessa LeBourdais. “Some of the other theatre companies in BC that tour to schools have had huge losses this year due to the teachers’ action – it even made the news.

"Despite the teacher's action, Jenn managed to book more DreamRider shows than ever."

Jenn laughs, “My boyfriend works in sales, one day we were talking about work and realized that my job is also sales – even though the schools don’t pay for the shows, I am trying to sell them on the idea of booking a show!”

“Sometimes a Principal will say, ‘We had that show already,’ so I go into sales mode and tell them that it’s actually been three years since we toured there, that half of the audience is new, and remind them that kids love to see their favourite shows over and over again.”

Jenn says, “Then the principal will laugh, and book us.”

Jenn especially likes working from home right now
because she can take care of her new puppy, Digby.

Plus, Jenn keeps the environment in mind when doing the scheduling. “I try to book the performances as close together as possible, to minimize driving distance between shows.”

Just another day as an undercover Planet Protector at DreamRider Theatre.

Happy International Women's Day, from Esmeralda Superspy!

Sara Holt is Esmeralda Superspy

We All Need More Superheroines!

While DreamRider’s teaching kids about the environment, we also have a deep message about roles for women, through our character Esmeralda Superspy Planet Protector. 

Recently, Madeleine Shaw, of Lunapads and Pads4Girls, told me about the effect seeing Esmeralda had on her daughter, Gigi. Madeleine said to me that she herself is an eco-feminist, so Gigi had grown up learning about the environment and women’s issues. But Madeleine said that Gigi had never encountered a female superhero before, and that the effect on Gigi was transformative and empowering. 

It’s not accidental. I started writing plays because of my frustration at the narrow and limited roles for women that were being written. I certainly didn’t fit into them, and neither did most of the women I knew. 

So when my partner Ian Gschwind and I set about to write our first Planet Protectors play, Keep Cool, I insisted, “The superhero has to be a woman.”

Esmeralda Superspy Planet Protector has now been in three plays, three videos, and an animation, she’s been seen by almost 200,000 kids. 

Not once ever has anything ever been said about her appearance. 

Sara Holt in "Esmeralda Superspy and the Litterless Lunch."

I think she’s an attractive superheroine, but that is not what is important about her. What she does, what she feels, what she can do, her values and her mission, those are important, and that’s what Esmeralda is about. And so it makes me feel amazing to know that 800 boys and girls every day are encountering this female model of excellence and empowerment and capacity and bravery and purpose.  

A special note needs to be made about the fabulous Sara Holt, who originated the role, has been playing her with all her heart and soul for four years now, who embodies Esmeralda's awesomeness every day, and whose commitment to BE Esmeralda is inspiring. Oh, and did I mention, Sara designed the costume too?


So happy International Women’s Day and here’s to all the superheroines out there, real and imaginary.