In the Technical Theatre program, taught by Carol Cadby, students are encouraged to take responsibility and solve problems. Build three trees capable of supporting 500+ pounds of actor? Fine. Build an animatronic bird that can fly across the cavernous theatre on cue? Done without hesitation. Build pneumatic air cannon to dispense confetti? (…well, that one took some time!) It is students who draw the designs, do the research, find the machine shop and put it all together. A special atmosphere of empowered youths — young men and women from all walks of life — come together in a tightly knit brotherhood unlike anything else academic. It takes a special kind of attraction to motivate young people to spend literally hundreds of hours of their own free time at school, and love every minute of it.
Sit in on a Technical Theatre class, and the quick witted banter, which seems puerile on the surface, can be read as a large group of close friends working together to solve the problem of a day. Students work together closely for a common goal, taxing their brains to the limit, be that brain assigned a 2.0 or a 4.0. Every opinion and idea is valued and appreciated, every person matters.
It’s a special experience, working with a group of people so united. With so many cliques and competitions in this world, giving kids the chance to work relatively unstructured in an equal and level environment can be an amazing breath of fresh air.
Giving young people freedom and allowing them to grow, makes all the difference in the world.