ALUMNA, LAUREN KINCH (’10), WEIGHS IN

“Theatre at Annandale was such a positive experience for me. We were a close knit group of people, and I didn’t want that feeling to end. In college, I still get to keep all the aspects from high school that I loved, but on a whole new level.
There’s so much more that goes into it than I expected. But like all things in life, if it’s not hard, it’s probably of little worth. Culturally, theatre has been a form of expression and communication for centuries. It’s been embedded in our history and humanity for so long that I can’t imagine high school or college without it.
I think there’s a misconception with theatre in that people tend to think it’s all about the performance, something to be accomplished, finding ‘it.’ But from my experience in college, it’s more about a constant practice. You learn different ways of finding ‘it’ so that you’re in a constant mode of discovery and rediscovery.
Then your work doesn’t go stale from thinking you’ve already accomplished “it.” How beautiful and exciting is that? There’s a lot theatre has to offer if you put the work into it. For example, it helps you develop great life skills like public speaking and working in a group environment under pressure. Most importantly for me, I’ve found that it really teaches you about being in the moment.
In today’s busy society, we’re constantly rushing from place to place and we tend to lose ourselves in it. We sometimes forget how to just be present, alive and aware in the current moment.
But all it takes is giving yourself a moment or two to let your mind and body arrive, to identify where you are in your body, to center yourself, so that you can better relate to the people, the place and the task at hand.”

CHORUS

“Kids need something to belong to; they’ve got to have something to be a part of, and the arts provide that.
The sort of family and familiarity you form with the people involved in the arts departments are the same sort of connections you find among sports teams. We train, we practice, we compete and we do so together,” junior Patricia Webb said.

“I can’t even imagine high school without the arts. If there wasn’t an arts program in high school, I think it would be more difficult for some students to manage.
The arts have always been a place where people who don’t really fit in anywhere else can turn to and actually have fun. If that was taken away, the high school experience would be completely different,” senior Marissa Shartel said.

BAND

“The arts, such as band, give kids a great chance to express themselves. They are fun and you get to meet a lot of different people who do different things,” junior Andrew Riddle said.

VISUAL ARTS

“The arts are helpful for those people who don’t tend to express themselves,” junior Jasmine Lee said. “They get to express what they feel like or want to say through art. I made a lot of new friends in my art class who share my interests.”

THEATRE

“Theatre and the arts have opened up so many opportunities for me and made me realize what I really want to do in life. I’ve met so many amazing people and learned so much from participating in the performances and overall grown so much as a person,” junior Skye Lindberg said.

“The arts help you in different aspects of your life and can improve speech and self-confidence. They can also help you sympathize with others, as the arts can make you more sensitive to the point of view of others,” junior Maddy Reinert said.

“Without theatre and the arts, high school would be really different, and not in a good way, because there are so many personalities in theatre and the arts that wouldnt have grown without those activities,” junior Alex Lash said.