As a young child, seeing her two older brothers disappear onto a big red bus on Saturdays was fascinating for Isabelle. Seeing them return a couple hours later with bright smiles, singing songs and sharing stories only amplified her eager curiosity.
“She often feels left behind because she’s the youngest and the only girl,” Isabelle’s mother, Amanda, recalled.
“I want to go on the big red bus! I want to go on the big red bus!” Isabelle would chant, hoping to get a seat on that mythic – at least in her mind – vehicle that ferried her brothers away to someplace she could only assume was amazing.
So, when the time finally came for her to join her brothers at CityKidz, Isabelle was ready.
On the bus, that space she so longed for as a pre-schooler, she quickly learned all the words to the different songs from Wheels on the Bus to Baby Bumblebee. And in the theatre, she immediately took to the stories and lessons, especially those about friendship
“You should always be nice to each other and you can be a friend to everyone,” says 10-year-old Isabelle, recounting the most important things she’s learned at CityKidz.
Indeed, friendship has been an important part of Isabelle’s whole CityKidz experience.
“It’s helped her a lot with making friends because she feels like she has no one in the neighbourhood,” explains Amanda, “We’re not in the nicest neighbourhood so a lot of the kids are aggressive,” she continues, “But when she’s at CityKidz, she feels safe.”
Constant bullying at school and in her neighbourhood have taken their toll on 10-year-old Isabelle. She’s been diagnosed with severe anxiety. The kinds of social settings in which most kids bloom – the schoolyard, the neighbourhood park – are the places where Isabelle often suffers the most.
CityKidz provides a much-needed break from the constant picking and punishment of the school week. For Isabelle, CityKidz is a place where she knows bullying is never tolerated and quickly addressed.
“She knows the leaders, and that if she has any problem that Susan [her captain] is there,” says Amanda.
“She’s one of my best friends in the whole world,” adds Isabelle, referring to Susan.
CityKidz is a place where Isabelle can shine as she rocks out to the songs and dances. It’s a place where she can dream big of one day becoming a doctor or a vet. It’s a place where she is freed from the weight of her anxieties and just be the beautiful, carefree kid she was made to be.