Evergreen School District News

Charles Crosby

While schools in 2015 need to keep kids focused on good 'ol fashioned reading, writing and 'rithmatic, for a full learning experience they can use a little Captain Hook too.

Evergreen Elementary is gearing up for its performance of Peter Pan Jr, which will hit the boards May 21 and 22. Its the fourth time Evergreen has partnered with Starting Arts to produce a show.

Starting Arts is a California-based nonprofit arts organization dedicated to promoting quality arts education in public schools. They came together with Evergreen because of two dads: Steve Sweeney and Mike Boston. Boston is Artistic Director of Starting Arts and Sweeney is principal at Evergreen Elementary. They had kids at the same school and after talking one day, Sweeney discovered that Starting Arts was producing after-school shows at other Evergreen District schools (Silver Oak, J.F. Smith and Matsumoto) and realized it was exactly the kind of project he wanted to see at Evergreen. "Four years ago, it was decided to explore the idea of offering an after school performing arts program at Evergreen Elementary," he says. "The initial goal was to provide students an opportunity to express themselves creatively. The interest in the after school performing arts program has gradually increased over the past four years. The program offers students another way for (them) to make a connection to Evergreen as well as provided them opportunities to meet other kids from the school that they would have not ordinarily met during the regular school day." Their first joint project was "Annie, Jr.", followed by "Beauty and the Beast, Jr.", and then "Alice in Wonderland, Jr." last year. This year, for Peter Pan Jr. their enrollment is up to 54 kids.

As anyone who has produced for the theater knows, any performing arts production takes a lot of time, energy and money. Evergreen breaks the monstrous task up into smaller manageable pieces with the school taking on the business aspect of the production (scheduling of practices and performances, accounting, ordering cast t-shirts and CD's and advertising of the performance). The families of the student performers make the financial commitment to pay for the staff from Starting Arts to direct the performers, and Starting Arts staff provide the expertise and experience to help coach the young performers to tap into their creative potential. The company provides the costumes, sets, lightning and sound technicians to make the performance come alive. Most important of all, the students provide the dedication and talent in bringing the musical to life. "Having the school, families, Starting Arts staff and students work together having an after school performing arts program turns a dream into reality," says Sweeney.

Diana Koss returns as the director and musical director for the show. As part of a team of three she says their job is to "help the kids unlock their inner creativity and put on a terrific show." With casting recently completed she's now turning her attention to getting the show on its feet. The auditions can be exhausting but can also unearth hidden talent in kids who may not even be aware of what they're capable of. "I can usually tell in the first few seconds whether or not a child can match pitch and handle a solo sung line," she says. "We can also tell immediately who can pick up the dance combination quickly. The real challenge is finding those kids who might not be the quickest or the loudest in auditions, but who have great potential and might really shine after a few rehearsals. Twenty-two of this year's cast members are kids I have worked with in prior years, so we already know their abilities, which helps in casting. It's the 32 new kids who I tend to focus on in auditions; I'm always looking for that special kid who takes a chance and shows us some talent. For many of them, it's not easy to sing and dance in front of other kids! We do our best to make the whole process fun."

In the coming weeks the show will come together as choreography, line memorization, blocking, props and costumes all get folded into the mix. We'll follow up as opening day gets closer and report on the show's progress. Exposure to and envelopment in the arts is an important part of a child's education and Evergreen is embracing the concept full-on. As Sweeney notes, "I definitely believe having an after school performing arts program is beneficial to a child's learning experience. Not only does the program provide students with an opportunity to work collaboratively and creatively, it gives them the chance to express themselves in a different way. The exposure of many of our students "hidden dramatic talent" is a surprise to both staff and parents alike. I especially enjoy observing the transformation that takes place from the first day of practice to the final performance of the musical. The look on kids faces after the last performance is priceless. The students have a great sense of accomplishment. I look forward to the day that I see one of our student performers on Broadway and reading they got their start on stage at Evergreen Elementary School!"