They are certainly ready for their closeups.
Five Iola Middle School students showed off their acting and oratory chops Monday to the USD 257 Board of Education as they worked their way through a series of monologues.
The students are the charter members of the newly reformed IMS theatre department, under the direction of John Higginbotham, who teaches elementary school art, and has been a constant presence in local theatrical productions since he was a child.
Higginbotham was approached by IMS administrators about restarting drama classes prior to the start of the school year.
Higginbotham, who also teaches the annual Children’s Summer Theater Workshop at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, said the goal is to have students more accustomed to being on stage by the time they enter high school, to build upon an already sterling IHS drama program.
“It’s been a fun journey for all of us, as we figure all of this out,” Higginbotham said. “A lot of it is getting these kids comfortable in their own skin. I can remember, thinking back to it, how middle school was such an awkward time.”
It certainly didn’t show on the five middle-schoolers.
Winston Jordan read a monologue from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth, while Piper Jordan’s soliloquy was about a frantic student who hadn’t finished her homework. Logan Belknap re-created a humorous scene in which he addresses a jury tasked with finding out if Peter Pan should be charged with Captain Hook’s murder, while Jim Olson — without help of a script — offered up a scene from “Romeo and Juliet.” Eighth-grader Eliana Higginbotham put a cap on the presentation with a “letter” from a pair of crayons in distress. Purple is upset because her owner cannot color between the lines, while Beige is a bit envious of the more popular colors.
Board members were more than a little impressed.
“When I was in junior high, you’d have had to hold a gun to my head to get me up there like that,” Board member Tony Leavitt said.
“When John started teaching for us at the elementary, we thought, ‘Oh this is perfect,’” IMS Principal Brad Crusinbery said. “My daughter, and I know some of your kids, went through his summer programs at the Bowlus. It’s very exciting to see.”
Fager said the credit for the early success goes to Higginbotham.
“If you’ve been around John much, he’s a natural on his feet and carries on conversations and makes kids feel at ease,” Fager said. “Those are things that translate into effective teaching strategies. It’s a great opportunity.”
Higginbotham expressed interest in developing a Drama II class for middle-schoolers to further develop their learning before entering high school.
MONDAY had plenty of other good news involving middle-schoolers.
Eighth-grader Shelby Blankenship, who won the Allen County Spelling Bee, just missed out on finishing in the top 10 in the Kansas Spelling Bee over spring break, Crusinbery said. Blankenship advanced to the fifth round before being eliminated “on a word I couldn’t even pronounce,” Crusinbery said with a chuckle.
For the record, the word was “abbess,” a woman who is the head of an abbey of nuns.
