This weekend was Colorado Thespian Conference! It's a huge convention of High School students who have qualified as a Thespian by earning points by what they've been involved with in the after school program. They have the opportunity to participate in Individual Events, (monologues, duet scenes, duet songs, solo songs, mime, improv, & all the kinds of designs), audition for college (many college representatives in the same place with call backs), a Thespian Show audition (directed by a high school director and a variety of students to audition & do tech.), workshops (tech, singing, dancing, acting, and so much more!), 2 mainstage productions (presented by 2 high schools.), and just being around other thespians.
There are workshops for teachers too. I went to two teacher workshops. At the first one some teachers came up to me and told me about how they taught at Adams City for a few years. They said they started there and then went somewhere else. I realized why my program hasn't grown. High school students don't do well with turn over. When a teacher leaves they think it's because they, the students, weren't good enough for the teacher and they've moved on to something better. It hurt my feelings when they said that. I want my program to be like the other schools that I see around me. Greeley West, Brighton, Horizon, Pamona, Thompson Valley, and others like them. I realized when I was talking to those teachers that all these schools have one thing in common: The teachers have been there for more than 15 years. Peggy Freemole has been teaching at GW longer than I've been a live. Jane's been at Brighton for almost 20 years. Their programs didn't start where they are now. They've been built to reach that point by dedicated teachers who stayed through the hard times.
My program is where it is now because the teachers before me have used it as a stepping stone. They haven't built it up because they weren't there long enough to change it. When they left, whatever they had done went back to the way it was or changed to how the new teacher wanted it to be. There wasn't enough consistency for the program to really change and grow.
Believe me, I understand why these teachers left. Adams City High School is a rough place to teach because of the students we have. They don't want to learn. They're not motivated. They're finishing school so they don't have to go to truancy court. They ditch classes to be with their friends and hide in the halls because they don't see the value of getting good grades. The teachers and administrators are trying to help them in any way we can. It's hard because students get lost in the shuffle at school. I have 37-43 students in all of my classes. Most teachers in a 'normal' classroom at ACHS have about 35 in each class. What they need is teachers who know them and they know care about them. We don't have that. Students here see the teachers only as people who make them do a lot of things they don't want to.
Anyway, that was a tangent. What I want to talk about is my program. I want it to be quality theatre. I remember watching Cats at GW and forgetting I was watching a high school production. That takes a lot of effort from me, which I'm already giving, and my students. I also need more help. I can't do it alone. I need to do what one of the retiring teachers said: Find a good tech director and marry them. I want someone to take over my tech. I want my program to grow and require 2 theatre teachers. That would be amazing. I want feeder programs in my middle schools. I want students to want to be involved. I want my program to become a family of people who care about each other and accept everyone. I want other students to not be able to make fun of my students because they're involved in a successful program. I want boys to come and not be accused of being gay and worse things just because they're in theatre.
I was talking to my Uncle Tommy, the acting professor at UNC, and I told him where I was teaching. He said "Good for you! The kids there need you more than any other kids at this conference." I said, "I Know." I know theatre changes kids. It helps them grow into leaders. It helps them relate to people. It gives them real life skills that they can take and apply to anything that they decide to do. It teaches them to work with other people on a common goal. It changes kids.
