Jenny is a brave young girl in Grade 4 who has epilepsy. She learns to help her classmates understand what it is like to live with epilepsy and how to be part of her safety net if she has a seizure. Her friends want to help. Others are skeptical. One is mean. In short, it’s life!

The play has a dream sequence in which Jenny finds herself on TV confronted by a pair of “perfect” TV hosts. The media often seems to be telling us that we have to be perfect. Of course everybody’s different. Nobody’s perfect. This is the message in this play.

Jenny’s story helps all of us understand that not being perfect is alright. Expecting ourselves or others to be perfect can create unrealistic expectations, low self-esteem and lead to bullying.

This easily read play and program allows your students to choose (or allows you to assign) parts. Each student gets a script. They highlight their parts and can carry their scripts with them as they perform. There is an easy assessment and evaluation form for you to use when reporting their successes.

Even though Ontario has 100,000 people living with epilepsy, your classes this year may not have a child, teacher or family member who is affected. At Epilepsy Ontario, we are committed to helping everyone understand the challenges we all face by “being different.”

Of course our objective is to bring awareness to the general public about epilepsy, but we also know that children are affected by other differences: learning difficulties, racial prejudices, obesity, diabetes, cancer, paralysis, blindness and deafness to name a few.

If adapting the play to your specific needs will help you and your school further question the idea of “perfection,” you have our permission to adapt the script. Let us know if there is any other way in which we may help you.

One in 100 Canadians live with epilepsy. Chances are everyone knows at least one person who has epilepsy, whether they are aware of it or not. The classroom is a great place to get the conversation started.