Gaeil Farrar
Staff Writer
Tatla Lake Elementary Junior Secondary School principal Clare Gordon couldn’t be more proud of her students and community members for their parts in staging the musical The Lion King last month.
“Our students have grown so much,” Gordon said.
“They’ve had to work together, stay focused, push through uncertainty, be fully engaged, and now they are taking pride in doing their very best.”
She said putting on a musical may seem like the fluff or the extra-curricular part of school, but she believes the work involved in putting together musicals provides some of the most important experiences children can be given.
“The skills they take away will give them the confidence to speak in front of a group, to advocate for themselves in a job interview, and to work together for a common goal.”
She said some of the students coming in from other schools in the region for the Thursday performance had to get on the school bus at 6:30 a.m. and ride five hours to see the show then ride five hours home again.
“It’s one thing to perform in front of people who love you unconditionally and quite another to perform in front of your peers,” Gordon said.
“Our students did us proud. This may have been the finest performance. It was followed by a question and answer period. Students in the audience had lots of good questions and our students took turns answering them.”
She said that about 150 people attended the dinner theatre gala evening on the Friday night which featured a fantastic barbecued pork tenderloin dinner with an ice cream sundae dessert bar after the show.
“Saturday’s matinee was also well attended,” Gordon said.
“I am so proud of how our community comes together to support our school and our kids.”