great.”
I turned to face Elijah.
“ If you could keep tabs on performances. Strengths, weaknesses, callbacks.”
“ You got it!”
Despite my earlier misgivings, I was confident I made the right decision in choosing Veronica and Elijah. With Elijah, I learned something else: He was poor. He was brought to A.O.S. on a scholarship from a pharmaceutical company. Here was one young man who could truly benefit from his attendance here. I didn’t feel sorry for him, though I did feel that he deserved a break more than most of the other, more affluent students. And why not give him something to do that was right up his alley?
The auditions became a much bigger to-do than I anticipated. Nervous students lined the hallway outside the classroom. One by one, they came in to perform. Armed with a CD, a buddy with a guitar, or just a buddy for moral support, they sang and acted their hearts out. Surprisingly, some of the best performers weren’t in drama. But I had to give special consideration to my students. Otherwise, I ran the risk of alienating my students. I couldn’t do that; not when so many of them struggled with low self-esteem.
But before Tuesday’s second round of auditions were to begin, there was a drama of the literal kind shaping up. Apparently overnight, Elijah couldn’t keep his mouth shut and belittled some of the auditions. One thing led to another, and Elijah ended up holed up in his dorm room in self-exile. A meeting was called. Daniel, Frank, Tom, Sheila, and I met in Daniel’s office.
“ What are we going to do with this guy?” Tom asked, a look of resignation crossing his face.
Daniel turned to face Frank.
“ How are his grades?”
Frank opened a folder, and glanced at a printout of his current classes.
“ Seems to be doing well in most of his classes. A’s and B’s, for the most part. He’s averaging a C in Strumm’s class.”
Daniel glanced in my direction. It seemed everyone’s eyes were on me.
“ How’s he been in your class, Joe?”
“ Well, up to now, he’s been a great student. But with
this—”
Sheila cut me off. “He’s doing great with his program.”
Tom nodded. “So, if we stumble him, it might have a negative affect on him.”
I don’t know if it was simply Sheila liking what she was hearing from Tom, or her own liking Tom the man himself, but she was all smiles.
“ Why don’t we have him just go and apologize to the students?” Frank asked.
Daniel rose from his seat.
“ Talk to him, Frank. Have him apologize individually and at Summit.”
“ Got it.”
In the month I’d been at the Academy, I witnessed students receiving a stumble for less serious infractions. Elijah was merely getting his hand slapped. Still, I felt responsible for his actions.
After all, I picked him to be a judge.
On Wednesday, I had Ellie drop me off at work. She was to bring Bobby after school to check out the campus and meet me after Summit for dinner. At some point, Daniel would meet up with us. In the meantime, I conducted class as usual, except with the nagging feeling that Elijah wasn’t going to be sorry for what he did.
When I informed Daniel of my plans to put on Little Shop of Horrors at A.O.S., he was elated. When I asked him for money to put on the show, he approved close to one thousand dollars. There was one small problem. As any experienced high school drama teacher knew, in order to stage a production based on a Broadway show, one had to secure rights. It didn’t matter that the play was going to be showing once and only once in the middle of farm country in a nondescript town of Latino migrant families. I didn’t want to saddle Daniel with all that. The cost of rights and script rental alone would be our entire budget. I simply went on the Internet, and after hours of research, I
I turned to face Elijah.
“ If you could keep tabs on performances. Strengths, weaknesses, callbacks.”
“ You got it!”
Despite my earlier misgivings, I was confident I made the right decision in choosing Veronica and Elijah. With Elijah, I learned something else: He was poor. He was brought to A.O.S. on a scholarship from a pharmaceutical company. Here was one young man who could truly benefit from his attendance here. I didn’t feel sorry for him, though I did feel that he deserved a break more than most of the other, more affluent students. And why not give him something to do that was right up his alley?
The auditions became a much bigger to-do than I anticipated. Nervous students lined the hallway outside the classroom. One by one, they came in to perform. Armed with a CD, a buddy with a guitar, or just a buddy for moral support, they sang and acted their hearts out. Surprisingly, some of the best performers weren’t in drama. But I had to give special consideration to my students. Otherwise, I ran the risk of alienating my students. I couldn’t do that; not when so many of them struggled with low self-esteem.
But before Tuesday’s second round of auditions were to begin, there was a drama of the literal kind shaping up. Apparently overnight, Elijah couldn’t keep his mouth shut and belittled some of the auditions. One thing led to another, and Elijah ended up holed up in his dorm room in self-exile. A meeting was called. Daniel, Frank, Tom, Sheila, and I met in Daniel’s office.
“ What are we going to do with this guy?” Tom asked, a look of resignation crossing his face.
Daniel turned to face Frank.
“ How are his grades?”
Frank opened a folder, and glanced at a printout of his current classes.
“ Seems to be doing well in most of his classes. A’s and B’s, for the most part. He’s averaging a C in Strumm’s class.”
Daniel glanced in my direction. It seemed everyone’s eyes were on me.
“ How’s he been in your class, Joe?”
“ Well, up to now, he’s been a great student. But with
this—”
Sheila cut me off. “He’s doing great with his program.”
Tom nodded. “So, if we stumble him, it might have a negative affect on him.”
I don’t know if it was simply Sheila liking what she was hearing from Tom, or her own liking Tom the man himself, but she was all smiles.
“ Why don’t we have him just go and apologize to the students?” Frank asked.
Daniel rose from his seat.
“ Talk to him, Frank. Have him apologize individually and at Summit.”
“ Got it.”
In the month I’d been at the Academy, I witnessed students receiving a stumble for less serious infractions. Elijah was merely getting his hand slapped. Still, I felt responsible for his actions.
After all, I picked him to be a judge.
On Wednesday, I had Ellie drop me off at work. She was to bring Bobby after school to check out the campus and meet me after Summit for dinner. At some point, Daniel would meet up with us. In the meantime, I conducted class as usual, except with the nagging feeling that Elijah wasn’t going to be sorry for what he did.
When I informed Daniel of my plans to put on Little Shop of Horrors at A.O.S., he was elated. When I asked him for money to put on the show, he approved close to one thousand dollars. There was one small problem. As any experienced high school drama teacher knew, in order to stage a production based on a Broadway show, one had to secure rights. It didn’t matter that the play was going to be showing once and only once in the middle of farm country in a nondescript town of Latino migrant families. I didn’t want to saddle Daniel with all that. The cost of rights and script rental alone would be our entire budget. I simply went on the Internet, and after hours of research, I
Similar Books
