SAISD high school students are sharing their passion for theater with a younger generation.
Brackenridge theater students visited two elementary schools Thursday to perform and interact with the kids.
The teens stopped by Douglass Elementary in the afternoon. There they performed two twisted fairy tales. They took characters and plot lines from well-known stories and gave them a big twist.
The first performance featured two guys we all know: Peter Pan and Captain Hook. In this case, Pan was the villain.
At the end of the sketch came a lesson to listen to your parents.
With a quick cast change, the second performance was underway as dozens of elementary students sat captivated in the Douglass auditorium.
An appearance by the three little pigs, Olaf the snowman, and an evil queen garnered more than one giggle.
“They interact with lines and they’re doing good stuff together as a teamwork,” said aspiring actress Hanna Barrera. She’s in 5th grade at Douglass.
“I really like being a role model for younger kids, it makes me feel good,” said Brackenridge 9th grader Samantha Perez.
The field trip was made possible because of a neighborhood group’s generosity.
“This is a program I started about 7 years ago and we go to elementary schools with an original fairytale that the classes makeup and improvise and script and rehearse,” said Brackenridge Theater Director Cheryl Hanson. “For two years we couldn’t do it because there weren’t funds for buses so I wrote a grant to the King William Association to try to get some money and we did get the money and so last year we were able to do the program and this year we got the grant again.”
The King William Association website shows that Brackenridge high school was among 10 total grant winners.
“It’s a huge honor to know that they think we deserve this and without it we wouldn’t have been able to bring joy to these kids and make them happy and do what we love in this process,” said Brackenridge freshman Elan Aguirre who played Peter Pan.
After taking a bow, the teens split the younger students up into groups for a drama workshop. The energetic games also served as a chance for the high schoolers to mentor the younger students.
“It’s just so wonderful for these kids to have role models for these kids to look up to,” said Arielle Rodriguez who serves as the Douglass theater club director and 3rd-grade teacher.
The elementary students are using the inspirational visit to put the finishing touches on their first play. They are performing Saturday at a campus registration block party.
“Without Brackenridge high school this play most likely wouldn’t happen because they donated their costumes for us,” said 5th grader Samaad Bunch who is excited to perform this weekend.
The students will perform their play at 1:30 Saturday afternoon.