High-school actors send a message
By Bobbi Mlynar
Originally published 12:50 p.m., November 5, 2007
Updated 12:50 p.m., November 5, 2007
Theater isn’t just for art and entertainment at Emporia High School. More and more teachers in the school district are calling on Spartan Educational Theater to teach their young students lessons in a way that adds a layer of fun.
The troupe is led by EHS theatre director Amanda Stice.
The troupe performed in all of the district’s elementary schools during the past two weeks as part of the Emporians for Drug Awareness and Safe and Drug-Free Schools’ Red Ribbon Week celebration.
It was the troupe’s second year to present the programs, which lasted about 20 minutes.
“That’s my whole goal,” Stice said, “to entertain and to, most importantly, to educate. We present an educational message through the vehicle that we use." Elementary students saw five short skits at each performance — “Sesame Street,” “Me Too,” “The Basketball Star,” “This Is Your Brain” and “Pick Me.” Each skit fit in the theme of avoiding drug use and students’ building confidence themselves and the decisions they make.
Delano Mendoza, SET coordinator, researched and found plays that were appropriate for the young audiences, Stice said.
“We always ask questions at the end of every skit to re-emphasize the lessons of the skit,” she said. “It’s something kind of new and fun for them.”
The questions can be answered by “yes” or “no,” and simplify re-enforcing the lesson as the youngsters answer in chorus.
At performances’ end at Timmerman Elementary School on Friday, Stice asked the youngsters to repeat — one more time — the essence of what they’d learned through the skits and the week-long anti-drug activities.
Their voices echoed across the gymnasium as they shouted in their loudest voices: “Look at me — I’m drug-free!”
“Theater isn’t just fun and games,” Stice said, as the young students trooped out of the gym with their teachers. “It can be educational. ... I’m glad that the kids have taken to it so well.”
SET is making plans to present another mock car crash involving a drunk driver, she said. Two years ago, the troupe put on the dramatic re-enactment of the aftermath of drinking and driving and it was well-received.
They received hands-on help from Flint Hills Towing, which towed in wrecked cars; the Emporia Fire Department, Newman Regional Health and the Midwest LifeTeam helicopter flight and medical crew, which flew in a chopper and landed it at the site of the two-car crash at Emporia High School to fly out injured youngsters.
“Roberts-Blue-Barnett came in and put one of the kids in a hearse,” Stice said.
The program evoked emotions among teens and adults alike as they became caught up in the performances of the participants.
“It’s so much more realistic and lifelike” than other programs, Stice said. “When those EMTS come in and they cut the top off (the car) and it’s blood all over… “If we can make sure every kid comes back from prom, that’s the whole goal.”
Students involved in the Red Ribbon Week skits were: Bridgit Jurgens, Logan Herrera, Katie Potter, Gerri Sprecker, Marah Carney, Sarah Coulson, Ninive De Le Rosa, Ashley Glover, Kate Haberkorn, Madeline Huerta, Carrie Hurlocker, Delano Mendoza, Lorren Mize and Abby Phelps.