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AWARDS AND PRAISE FOR COYOTE'S CHRISTMAS CAROL!

Malcolm MacDonald accepted second prize in the Marilyn Hall Youth Theatre Awards
 for Coyote's Christmas Carol January 31, 2005. The ceremony, held in the Crystal Ballroom
 of the Beverly Hills Hotel, also celebrated another "Carol" with a tribute to
 the legendary Carol Channing on her 84th birthday.

A SAMPLING OF EMAILS FROM 2004-2005:
(I omitted the teachers' names, but left their text exactly as written.)

Oh, thank you so much!  The kids and I had great fun, and I believe my friend and ESL teacher, Meg, sent you an email asking of the "Spanish Edition" if it even exists.  We share two boys from Mexico who will participate in the play, but they speak no English.   It was sweet feeling the excitement in the air of the classroom today as they began to practice.  We laughed a lot!   It's just great Thanks.   In appreciation,
Stanwood Middle School Stanwood, WA (north of Seattle).

I am a drama teacher in Florida.  We are reading your play in class, and we
LOVE it!   Very funny, a great new twist on the Dickens classic!  Thanks,
Cocoa High School,  Drama/English Dept. 

As the conclusion, we did it well... the production this year was different with your "Coyote's Christmas Carol" that we all had positive attitude towards the production... We made one man play all the roles that other spirits did... As the result, I, playing the part of Scrooge, won the best actor prize in the contest.  I cried during the play and mainly focused on the theme...
30th Inter-High School Drama Festival, Tokyo, Japan

I've had the pleasure of reviewing your play "Coyote's Christmas Carol' and although I haven't completed reading it yet I really appreciate the interpretation and the theme you have applied to the play.   I'd be interested in producing the play as a project for our drama club.   Please let me know if you need any further information.  Thanks and best regards,
Calgary Science School,  Alberta  Canada

I teach a christmas carol and was looking for different ways to present it to my kids.  i loved the multicultural aspect of your play.  thank you so much. we read the play in class.  my kids LOVED it!  they thought it followed the story and had an interesting twist to it.  as a teacher, i would love for you to do several more versions so i could use them in class too!  
way to go!                   
Scottsburg middle school in Scottsburg,  Indiana

I am an ESL teacher in Shanghai, China.  I have one optional class where I can teach English outside the thinking box of Chinese headmasters.  I saw your script and found it very interesting.  Wish you a prosperous and happy life. 
Shanghai, China.

I am very interested in this play (Coyote's Christmas carol), Our school has grown very fast the past decade and is now over 50 percent hispanic and I am in need of material to get these Hispanic students excited and involved.  Please send me a script and I will send whatever you need for documentation.
Mt. Pleasant High School,  Hooks, TX  75561

I would really like to use your play Coyote's Christmas Carol in my classroom for the holidays.  Thanks so much for making these things available to teachers!!!!!   Sincerely,
North Chatham Elementary  Chapel Hill, NC 

I'm an English teacher at ROE Alternative Program school in Zion,Illinois.Our middle school students, as part of  a service learning project, spend 2 hours a week at a long term medical facility,Sheridan Health Care Center.As part of that commitment they read plays,perform skits,do improv,etc.We would like to perform Coyote Christmas Carol(one time) for the patients and staff at Sheridan.
ROE Alternative Program, Zion, Illinois

My kids are reading your play in my class now as part of our 7th grade English Language ARts curriculum, and they enjoy the humor and how closely it matches the Dickens story. I'm learning a lot of Spanish too!  I plan on showing A Christmas Carol movie next week, and having the kids write comparative essays on the two versions.   
High School Drama, Dallas, TX 

Hey there!  I am hoping that you have this great piece of work available in Spanish for my Spanish speaking students. I've looked online and haven't been able to find it. Is there place I can get it?
Appreciatively,
Lincoln Middle School, St Louis

 Hello, my name is ________.  I teach Spanish to 8th graders.  Our Reading and Language Arts teacher stumbled upon your script to "Coyote's Christmas Carol" on the internet when looking for info. on the Dickens' classic to use in her classroom. .  It appears to be a wonderful medium for teaching the traditions and lessons of the Mexican culture and the Christmas season.  Muchas gracias,
Albuquerque, NM

I am an 8th grade teacher interested in doing your play and I was wondering how I ordered it.  We will rewrite it a little as we are in Southern Illinois, but we love the pizza man and some of the other more modern ideas.  Thanks so much.
Dix, IL

I teach at Polk Middle School in Albuquerque, and we are encouraged to teach culturally relevant literature to our predominantly Spanish-speaking students. I wanted to teach Dickens' Christmas Carol, but I think your version is so much cuter, not to mention very relevant to our kids' culture! We also have a drama club here who might be interested in performing the play next year.  Thank you for your prompt reply,
8th grade Language Arts,  Polk Middle School  Albuquerque, NM 87105

I teach Drama at a small Cree First Nation school in Onion Lake, Saskatchewan (CANADA).  I am interested in receiving the complete script of your play to use in my drama class.   What I have read so far is great.   Thanks for giving us access to it.
Cree First Nation school in Onion Lake, Saskatchewan (CANADA). 

Hello, my name is _______. I am a Jr. High Drama teacher in Arvin, CA. I was just going crazy looking for a play script that would be appropriate for my 7^th graders. Your script is perfect. We have a 75% Hispanic population here and all of the drama students are of Mexican heritage.  I read some of the play to the students from the internet and they cannot wait to get into production.  I am so grateful that this play is out there I would gladly pay any royalty you my need to collect. It is very generous of you to offer this play to schools like ours and I hope we can bring this play to our stage.  Thank you,
Haven Drive Middle School, Drama Director

I'm a mexican teacher, that works in a bilingual school in Monterrey (México) and I would like to
represent your play for the parents of our school. So if it's possible please send me the last five pages
of the script.  Thanks,
bilingual school in Monterrey (México)

Thank you so much for sending us the play.  I got the play approved by my principal.  She loves it!  A lot of our students can identify with posada, tamales, etc. from the play. She also said that I can invite you to come watch your play being performed.  We are located in Anaheim.  I hope that you can make it.
Betsy Ross Elementary School, Anaheim CA

My name is _____ and I am teaching at an International School in Auckland/New Zealand... Now we are planning to put something else on for our Christmas celebration. The Students suggested the Christmas Carol. I found your generous offer on the internet and would love to use it. I found your idea with the cultural background very appropriate for an International School as our students are coming from many different countries in the world.  Thanks again for the friendly offer; I am hoping of hearing of you very soon,  Warmest regards.
Auckland International College – AIC, Auckland  NZ 

I am looking for a good christmas play for a children's afterschool theatre program.  Could you please send me a copy of your wonderful Coyote play?
Port St Joe, FL 

I am an English teacher in Kino Bay Sonora Mexico and am considering your play for the class activity.   As a Canadian living in their country, I hope that by my work at the school and help from people like yourself I can give back some of what I've gained and help the youth to build a better future.  Sincerely
Kino Bay Sonora Mexico

Would you please email me a copy of your Carol script?  I am an actor, teacher and director currently working as Director of Education at a Community Theater. I'm very excited about your script!  I like the ideas and the scenes and the writing -- everything!  I think it would be great for our community.  I like Coyote and La Llorona too!  La Llorona is in my first play called Intrepido.Thanks so much,
Director of Education at a Community Theater, Northern CA

I just read the first page of your show and would like to get a copy of the script.  I have been teaching theatre for 18 years and am currently at Dumont High School in New Jersey.   I always try to do different things with the advanced class and this looks like something they would enjoy
Dumont High School in New Jersey.

My kids loved Coyote's Christmas Carol! We read it as a class, but didn't perform it. They had a lot of fun reading something culturally relevant, and they educated ME on a lot of stuff too! We had a great time learning together. I'm going to pass it on to our after school drama teacher to see if she wants to think about doing it next year!
Wirt County High School in West Virginia

The students loved doing the play!  For a lot of them, it was their first exposure to 'A Christmas Carol'.  We invited staff to come watch the students perform (they still used their scripts) and everyone was very impressed.   Thank you so much for such a wonderful play!! 
Walnut Health Systems

I just wanted to let you know that the kids loved reading this play!  They all (8th graders) felt the ending was a bit abrupt and that it would have been better to have Scrooge "do something" rather than just making a bunch of promises.  (I hope that didn't sound too skeptical, because they really did like the play.  That was their only criticism.) Thank you very much for allowing me to use your play in my classroom.  It was very useful in teaching about Mexican culture and customs at this time of year. 
8th grade Lang. Arts  Cayuga Middle School Texas 

it went well -i used it to develop character traits and how a character can change from the beginning of the story to the end as always wish their had been more time to fully develop the creative possibilities thanks,  thank you for remembering me and for sharing your wonderful play with me. It's definitely top-shelf Christmas fare.
King Middle School, Portsmouth, NH.

The play went wonderfully.  The girls were really good and did an excellent job.  Thank you so much for sending me the remainder of your play.  The principal has the pictures on her computer and will be out for the next few days.  When she gets back I will ask her to send you a picture.  Thanks again.
Summit School

I am an 8th grade teacher at Athens Middle School in Athens, Illinois.  The students read the play the last few days before Christmas break.  We did not actually perform it; however, students did take on different roles.  The students really enjoyed it.  It was refreshing and a break from tradition.  Thank you for sharing your play with us!!!  I wish you all the luck in getting this published and out to the public in a larger scale.
Athens Middle School in Athens, Illinois. 

Read and/or purchase Coyote's Christmas Carol

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