There are many fun activities that are available after school at Luther Jackson Middle School. One of such is theater, also known as drama. In this article, you will learn about the theater program at LJMS and why it is so important to students.
Theater at LJ
Every year at LJ, we have a fall play and a spring musical. The play only involves acting, and its schedule and requirements are typically more laid-back than the musical. The musical involves acting, singing, and dancing, and is usually a show from Broadway. There is synchronized choreography and many songs in each musical, and rehearsals are more intense and frequent. Theater is one of our students’ favorite activities to do after school and is important because it builds teamwork skills, confidence, and communication skills.
That being said, after-school programs in FCPS middle schools are in critical danger of being cut due to a proposed budget cut, which means no more theater, or any of our programs that are done when the school day ends. But why are after school programs so important anyway?
Why after-school programs are so important in middle schools
- Getting rid of after school can impact low-income students. For example, low-income students may not have the budget to join a sports league outside of school. But many schools have sports teams that practice during after-school hours, and this allows low-income students to join because it’s free. The same goes with theater: our theater programs are free/low-cost, while local theater programs cost significantly more.
- For a lot of students, after school is the only way to get homework help or retake tests. Every teacher stays after school at least one day a week as of now, and after school is the perfect time for kids to ask a teacher questions about a topic they didn’t quite catch during class, or retake a test or quiz they didn’t do so well on the first try. If after school is taken away, academic help will be a lot harder to access.
- After school programs have been linked to better attendance. According to the NSCL’s research, attendance at school has been found to improve when participating in after-school programs. A reason for this is because students are excited to come to their favorite after-school programs every day (one of these is theater), therefore they come to school.
- Stopping these clubs, especially ones like theater, can leave a lasting impact. Imagine being a job recruiter, or a stage director, and you’re taking a look at an actor’s resume. You suddenly see a two to three year gap. Gaps in your resume or application is bad, and if FFX cuts theater, or something similar, that would happen to many of our young actors.
Decisions about cutting after school activities are being made NOW, and we need to do something to stop it. Whether it is signing a petition (there’s one in the Take Action section!) or writing an email to an official, you can make your voice heard. Your opinion matters, and so do after school programs.
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