First, thank you all for your patience. I believe one of my students put it best when she said "this was the longest week of our lives." Losing such a strong, creative, caring woman who dedicated her life to the betterment of young adults through the arts is a tragedy. I'm proud to say these students banded together and pulled off a very difficult period comedy with performances that started four days after we were informed of the circumstances surrounding the loss of our director. The cast and crew held strong against the overwhelming pressure of the administration to postpone or cancel the show, as well as every action they took to eradicate the theater of the teacher's memory, and made sure they gave everything they had in each performance. Is eradicate too strong a verb? No. And I will leave it at this: everything that belonged to the teacher is now locked up in the school safe with all of two people having permission to sort through it for paperwork and checks related to field trips and performances. We lost another teacher less than a month ago and all her educational belongings are still in her classroom. Confusing? Just a little bit. All of this said, I have been asked by the department head to help transition the new drama teacher into the school system and will be acting as many positions over the next few weeks to ensure the students still have an opportunity to perform in their Shakespeare festival, International Thespian Society induction ceremony, and May showcase/fundraiser. It appears that my job in the school system is secure because this educator came to my defense and explained to the administration exactly what I have been doing and how much time I've dedicated to them. With this in mind, I have to announce an extended break from this blog. I will not be able to post on a regular basis again until May at the earliest. I apologize for the forthcoming disappearance, but there is no other way to make sure everything gets done for these kids. They deserve it. Thank you.

Labels: announcement