To say that Corcoran is the agricultural capital of California would be an understatement. We arrived in this small farming town with a population of 12,000 on Monday afternoon. We were welcomed by an entourage of motorcycles, fire trucks, and a police escort that lead our caravan into town, blocking off incoming street. The mayor of Corcoran addressed us at the YMCA, where we met our host families and enjoyed a potluck dinner. My host parents during our week here were John and Joyce Jones. Along with myself, they also hosted Christine, our vocal coach from Connecticut, and Alecs from Romania. We didn’t waste any time in Corcoran...on Tuesday we woke up bright and early to spend the day with 1st and 2nd grade classes in the Corcoran Unified School District.
We spent 2 hours doing our “Stand for Peace” program in two classes throughout the morning. My group of 3 cast members had a great time interacting with these young students. Corcoran unfortunately has gang problems within their schools, and while this wasn't as evident with the younger kids, it would be more apparent in the coming days. Our SFP activities were centered on the promotion of peace, diversity and non-violence. There was a great willingness to participate from our classrooms. 
We asked one question during an activity called “Take a Stand” that challenged the students to choose whether they would go to school or not if they were no longer required too. The overall answer was “No.” It was heartbreaking to hear the comments of some of these 5 and 6 year olds who told me they wouldn’t continue coming to school because they were picked on or didn’t have any friends. I couldn’t believe children this young even had to think about these kinds of issues. We even spent lunch having a delicious school cafeteria meal with the kids; all right maybe it wasn't so delicious…But I did drink 4 mini cartons of chocolate milk! After lunch we performed 2 BTS (Backing Track Shows) one after the other for the 1st and 2nd grade students. 
I find that the entire experience for the students, from working with us in the classroom to seeing us on stage, is very special to them. The association between what we say in the classroom and what we do on stage can make a lasting impact.On Wednesday, we had the chance to tour the JG Boswell Ranch in Corcoran. They are one of the largest agriculture ranches in the country, with a total area of around 20 square miles. They’re major crops are cotton and tomatoes. We toured the ranch starting in the cotton fields, where we decided that cotton mustaches are all the rage!
JG Boswell accounts for over 80% of the Pima cotton grown in the United States. After seeing the cotton growing in the fields, we went to the massive cotton gin, where the cotten is cleaned and seperated from the seeds in a lengthy process. Eli Whitney would be so proud! They package the cotton into 500 pound bricks before they're sent away. We found out that cotton smashed into a 500 pound 
brick is no longer as soft as one would like. We also got to experience the tomato harvesting that was happening the day we visited the ranch. Tomatoes are collected by a machine that seperates them from the rest of the plant and then dumps them by conveyer belt into massive trucks. These tomatos are used for paste instead of being sold for regular consumer consumption. We ate some right off the 
ground and they were delicious. It was such a memorable experience to see a farming operation of this scale at the JG Boswell Ranch.Thursday was more "Stand for Peace" in the Corcoran middle schools. We had 6th and 8th grade classes that were more difficult to work with than the younger children. As I said before, it was apparent of the gang problems within the schools. Many students were apprehensive to participate and it made the activities more difficult to mediate. I ended up beat boxing in my class rooms to try and "win over" the students who seemed too cool for our other activities. That ended up helping and getting more attention.
That afternoon we did a BTS for over 900 students. Apparently we gained celebrity status in Corcoran, because after the show I signed about 75 autographs...It was a lot of fun.Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday evening we also worked with the students at a YMCA after school program. I was with some of the 5 and 6 year olds, who we played games with and drew awesome pictures.
Friday was a relaxing day at the YMCA in Corcoran. We heard from a female warden who works at the California State Prison in Corcoran. It's the largest single compound prison in the world with around 10,000 inmates. Even Charles Manson is staying there! In the afternoon we had the great honor of competing in the hometeam water olympics. We split into teams of around 8 cast member where we competed in such events as
sancronized swimming, diving for rings, and swimming relays. It was so much fun and a nice day to be swimming as it was around 110 degrees in Corcoran. I forgot to mention that one morning this week we had to get up at 4:30 AM to do a live TV spot for the Fresno, CA station. After waiting 2 hours for the lightning to go away, we finally decided to shot. As we did it started pouring rain and we did the entire performance with sheets of rain coming down.
I was so tired and completely annoyed, but atleast we got a funny story out of it all.Our show on Saturday night was in the John Muir middle school gymnasium...The largest venue in Corcoran. We brought in a stage and rented over 1,000 chairs for seating. The show was packed and went great except for the fact that we had to choose between having lights or air conditioning. Obviously we had to turn the AC off, and that made the entire gym a giant sauna. Emily Aldrich and her family came down from San Francisco to watch Cassidy and I perform! Corcoran was quite an amazing experience for a small town. I won't forget the impact this city made on me. Talk to you all soon!
