Theatre In Our Schools by McKenna Wirth

Hello! My name is McKenna, and I have done theatre all four years of high school. My involvement with the arts has been instrumental in my development in a number of ways, and in honor of Theatre In Our Schools Month, I’d like to share why it means so much to me.

Theatre started as a fun extracurricular to do with my friends. As I became more involved, I felt my circle expanding to encompass the entire department. In my sophomore year, we did the musical Starlight Express, an immense undertaking seeing as the entire show is performed on roller skates. Despite, or likely because of, this incredible challenge, everyone involved gave it their all and we ended up with a production that I will be proud of my entire life. On opening night, we received a huge outpouring of support from an international family welcoming these high schoolers to the Starlight family.

Experiences like these are why I stayed so active in theatre for all of my high school career. As I look back on it, I realize that theatre truly is a family. Although we may not always get along (especially during tech week), at the end of the day we all love and support each other. That cooperation makes theatre a true family, and one that I’m proud to be a part of.

Sincerely,

McKenna Wirth