As the end of the semester approaches, finals create an alarming situation for many students with their rigorous classes.
lays on the floor. She was playing the part of a dog. (Max Castro)
But students in Theater Arts II excitedly awaited their last project of the year.
“I am a little nervous, but I am also really excited,” sophomore Chloe Bowman said.
This winter, theater teacher Caleb Francis, along with his students in Theater Arts II, performed in front of students from Homecroft Elementary as their final project of the semester, helping high school students discover themselves while also inspiring elementary students.
Theater Arts II, an extension of Theater Arts I, is a course in which students are taught a more advanced look into theater.
Throughout Theater Arts I, students are introduced to the world of theater, learning the principle and basics of performing arts. Theater Arts II gets students to explore more about themselves while helping the students get them comfortable and understanding.
“Theater Arts II is going off from what you learn from the first theater arts class,” junior Jayel Riley said. “It’s a pretty fun class.”
Throughout the first semester of the course, Francis mainly focused on children’s theater and the concepts behind it.
As time passed and finals began to approach, he started to plan the entirety of the final project.
For the class’ final, it wasn’t Francis’ original idea to have this project, but rather a tradition that he wanted to follow.
“This was actually a project that was already set by previous teachers before I was even here,” Francis said. “I was like, ‘I love that project.’”
For students to start to plan the performance, they first had to get the fifth graders involved.
Before fall break, teachers at Homecroft asked their students to think of any story, fictional or realistic, and write down what they had in mind.
Once the fifth graders completed their task, all of their submissions were sent over to Francis.
Once Francis and students returned from fall break, they began to start looking at each single submission and chose a couple of the stories they felt were adaptable.
With almost 100 stories received, it would take some time to look over and jointly agree on each one.
In the end, four of the 100 stories they received were selected. Once all the students agreed on the stories, they began to prepare for the production, which included assembling the stories into actual scripts and assigning roles and more.
Francis enjoys assigning this project as the final due to the many beneficial aspects that the students will receive from performing in front of a live audience.
“I think (the final) is a good way to tie up a bell for the first semester,” Francis said.
This project is sought out to enhance theater students’ ability to perform in front of people they are not familiar with. The process of this project helps students leave their comfort zone as well as take control behind the scenes through directing and script writing.
“It’s to put you as the author,” Riley said, “as the scriptwriter and the actor at the same time.”
A week and a half ago, the fifth graders from Homecroft came over to SHS, not only to watch the theater class perform, but to watch their own story ideas come to life.
