Ankeny Drama Camps Week Two: June 23-27

This week was a lot different than my first encounter with the camp, mainly because my title was that of an assistant to the camp director, therefore I was not in charge of any one class, and instead I floated around all of them helping out where I was needed. This week we had five different camps in operation: Adventures of Pete the Cat which was for K-1st graders, If You Give a Kid a Stage and A Dr. Seuss camp for 2^nd and 3^rd graders, Acting Out for 4^th and 5^th, and lastly a program for 6^th-8^th graders called In the Spotlight. While not all of these were full day programs each was taxed with creating a performance and therefore it was my main function to act as a stagehand and run all the technical stuff. Two elements of theatre I am less than adept at. Thankfully I had brilliant teachers who knew exactly what they wanted and it wasn't painfully difficult to facilitate their wishes.

I helped build sets, find props, locate costumes, and find furniture in the incredibly dark and Room of Requirement-esque storage space. I also ate lunch with the kids who were there for both the morning and afternoon programs, and introduced new games to them. I dealt with children that had wonderfully positive attitudes as well as those that had no desire to be there. I worked with a myriad of age groups and was overcome by each ages willingness to learn the ways of the theatrical world.

There was an entire day where I was covering for a teacher who had been overcome by sickness, and I was working in the K-1^st grade room and after a week of older kids I was rather intimidated by their attention span. Each activity would take at most fifteen minutes and then they would lose interest, so to combat with their energy my energy had to be bounding about the room at a velocity on the verge of self-destruction. But the level of heart they hold is phenomenal, every single one of them had a love for acting and they did not let their age get in the way of their self-confidence and dedication; I have no doubts they will take that passion into their lives and flourish, and that’s mighty exciting.

Overall this week taught me the immense impact and importance of doing such a thankless job; regardless the amount of accolade and exposure working on the sidelines is crucial to the process and can make or break a show. At ISU we are a family, not one element is more important than another because every single person in the process brings their own unique skills and vision to the table. This week strengthened my love and belief in collaboration and I hope that these kids saw us all working together and put that level of respect and dedication into everything they do.