Functional Life Skills Students Perform "Jack and the Beanstalk"

𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘎𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘋7 𝘗𝘙 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯 

Last December, Liberty Middle School students Evelyn Maurer and Cardin Weber were on the bus talking about their school’s production of “Bye Bye Birdie” and how some FLS (functional life skills) students auditioned, but unfortunately didn't get a role. Knowing that their peers wanted a chance to perform in a play, they came up with the idea to create a show for all FLS students to participate in if they chose. After months of hard work, this idea came to fruition Tuesday afternoon in Liberty’s auditorium with the play Jack and the Beanstalk.

After talking to school counselor Michelle Wilkerson to see if the idea was possible, the two students, alongside Vivian Matthews, presented the idea to principal Dr. Allen Duncan and the FLS teachers. Everyone loved the idea and the students were excited to have it approved and finalized.

“We first came up with the idea the week before Christmas break. It’s been going for a while,” says Matthews.

The students say a lot of problem-solving and readjustments happened over the course of just a few short weeks. “There was a lot of taking everything down and rebuilding it.” says Maurer. “We redid the blocking four times. We finally found that sitting and standing worked best for the students.”

FLS teacher Alyssa Smith worked with the student directors to find a script with enough roles for everyone who wanted to participate. “This was student-led and student-driven. Having the students in charge of it was great to see.”

“It didn’t have the right amount of roles we needed, so we had to add roles and adjust a few things to make it more friendly to our specific kids. Everything is pretty much tailored to what works best for them as a person,” says Weber.

Using a grant from Liberty’s GLO club designed specifically to be given to inclusivity projects, the directors began figuring out what props the show would need to purchase.

“Inclusion is at the forefront and the students are doing it,” says Smith.

Smith saw the excitement on her FLS students’ faces when they saw their supporters in the audience at the show on Tuesday afternoon and leading up to it. “The excitement [from students] was [about performing] on the stage and going through some of the rehearsals as it got closer to the finale”.