The smell of paint and the joyous chatter of children filled the halls of Hicksville High School as the Thespian Club held their first ever theater camp. An idea created and driven by the high schoolers, this camp has been on the drawing board for years now. Last month it finally became a reality. The three-week theater program allows 20 members of the high school’s thespian club to teach classes to 55 students from grades 3-8.
Caitlin Cassidy, one of the theater teachers at Hicksville High School, supervises the program. She stays mostly in the background, handling the logistics and allowing the students to run the camp’s workshops on their own. Each workshop was proposed by a student and then chosen by the group to be included in the camp. Every workshop proposal needed to explain how the class would be run and how it would be adapted for different age groups. During a recent class session on Jan. 31, the workshops included stage crew, dancing, improvisation, set design, storytelling, and scene/script work.
The large orchestra room served as a useable space for dance class. Middle schoolers learned a simple dance and elementary school kids joined in similar games. In the improvisation workshop, students played an acting game called “freeze tag” and in stage crew class, students learned how to memorize sets so they could reassemble them in the dark. The set design class had campers gluing and painting while the storytelling workshop allowed students to practice creating stories of their own with characters and conflict.
Katie Anderson, the Public Relations officer for the Thespian Club and one of the camp counselors explained, “We do all the activities with them and make it fun. It’s important to introduce kids to theater early. I only got into [theater] in high school. I feel like they don’t get enough exposure [to theater]. They need a creative outlet after school.”
The campers will put on a small performance on the final day of camp, Saturday, Feb. 7, to showcase what they’ve learned. The set pieces and props they worked on will also be on display. In the props and set design workshops, the campers are working on props and set pieces which will be used in the high school’s upcoming production of the musical Grease. This production will feature thespian members and open in mid-March under the direction of Cassidy.
The high schoolers volunteer their time as camp counselors, teaching the workshops and escorting the kids from one activity to another. They may not get paid, but they do earn points toward their thespian membership. These points can also be gained by working on shows and attending thespian events. Once a student has enough points, they can earn different rewards such as wearing the thespian chords at graduation.
The excitement of learning and of bringing an idea into reality pervades the entire camp. The campers participate with glee as the thespian counselors lead with equal enthusiasm. Hopefully this is a tradition that will continue for many years to come.
