Introducing: Theater Class At Silver Creek

Recently, the theater department has been buzzing with the possibility of a theater elective class being available as soon as next school year.

The Silver Creek High School theater director, Tracy Knick, proposed the curriculum and has been working with Erick Finnestead, Silver Creek’s principal, to develop the theater class. The class, if successful, will start in the 25-26 school year. The class has been proposed after calls from the existing theater community, and support has been expressed throughout the school.

However, the path is not clear. In the past, Silver Creek’s theater classes have struggled, and there are worries about the feasibility of running, scheduling, and getting kids interested in the class. Theater students are very active in school activities, but problems arise with logistics.

The biggest worry has to do with the way schedules are made. Students are often very busy, and there are only so many classes that can fit on a schedule. Kristin Holtz, the current teacher-librarian, taught a theater class at Silver Creek for many years, and she has personal experience with this problem.

“What I found when I was teaching theater and what I’ve heard since then from other theater teachers is that a lot of times, even when students are interested in [a theater class], they don’t make time in their schedule for it,” Holtz said.

This difficulty is exacerbated by the fact that many students are multi-talented, as Holtz says. Kids who are in Band or Choir or highly academically challenging classes like Advanced Placement courses are even less likely to have time for a theater class.

Because of this, class sizes are often small, which then creates its own problems. Students who aren’t meeting graduation requirements are placed in classes that have available slots.

“What ends up happening is classes like theater become dumping grounds,” Holtz said. “They become the place where, because they’re small classes when kids change their schedules or come in new, they get thrust into that class, not necessarily by their first choice.”

This can lead to unmotivated and uncomfortable students, something Holtz struggled with in her classes.

This is one of the main obstacles that the administration faces when approving new classes, and it is particularly prominent in this case because of the precedent previous theater classes have set.

However, supporters of the class are optimistic about the turnout of dedicated and motivated students the class could get. The goal of the class would be that both actors and behind-the-scenes crew could learn and grow from the class.

Jay Schwartz, a junior at Silver Creek and a leader among the crew (also known as tech) – believes that with the right messaging, many crew members would love to take a theater class.

“I think we often get told, ‘Oh, tech things are gonna happen’, and it’s just a drill on how to move a spotlight or how to turn on a microphone,” Schwartz said. “I think we’re at a level of technicality where we have the interest and responsibility to go a lot further than that.”

If students are given comprehensive information, and the theater class can provide the education these students are looking for, Schwartz believes they would be very involved in a theater class.

It’s not just crew members. Sara Pilon, an actor and production manager for the theater program spoke about her hopes for a theater class. She believes a theater class could improve actors’ skills and technique beyond what is available after school.

“I think we could learn to be better about projecting our voices, how to move about [on stage] and we can learn more improv, because when we’re rehearsing for a play or a musical, we’re just learning that part, when we could be learning more of how to show emotion and how to do improv and all these different things,” Pilon said.

Other students also expressed interest in taking the class, if it was provided. Molly Tobin, a junior, has never participated in theater before, partly because she is on the soccer team, and it is incompatible with the current after-school program.

Creating a theater class could introduce new students to theater, and give opportunities for students to participate who otherwise could not. Additionally, having a theater class on the schedule could introduce freshmen to the idea of theater.

Camila Rivera is a senior and is very excited about the possibility of the class introducing freshmen to the performing arts. When she was a freshman, she had looked into the theater program but had been intimidated by the audition process.

“If I was a freshman and we had had a theater class, I would definitely have been interested.”