SLICE OF LIFE

On Saturday night, I saw RENT at a neighborhood high school. It wasn't the high school my boys went to, and I didn't know anyone in the play, it just came across my Facebook page, and I decided to go.

I've been thinking about it ever since.

Before the play, the drama teacher, a 30ish gentleman, who also happens to be the head football coach, got up and talked for a few minutes. "People are always talking," he said, "about how they want to support public education, and about how they want to support our (struggling) school. But then we do something like this and no one supports it." He gestured to the half empty auditorium. "This is by far our biggest crowd," he said. I thought about how hard that teacher and those kids had worked. How many hours they had put in. How many nights that teacher had been away from his family and friends. And I felt really, really sad that so few people had come to see the play.

Saturday night was Senior Night, the final performance for kids who had been involved with drama throughout their high school careers. At the end of the play, the drama teacher told a story about each senior, then presented each senior with a signed play poster. There were lots of hugs and lots of tears.

And again I was struck by this young teacher's dedication. For my boys, it was football. For these kids, it was acting. I wondered how many of these kids had gone to school because of drama. How many had sought advice or friendship in his office. How many kids were graduating because of him.

I'm so grateful there are teachers like this in our profession...