An English Play: Stan Tooth Shark's Last Treasure

I just finished saying to my roommate that last night was one of those times that really solidified that being a teacher is what I want to do for life. I feel so grateful and blessed to have had this opportunity to figure that out. I was honestly very doubtful and scared coming to Rimouski to do this. I was really nervous that I would start the language monitor job and then realize midway that I never want to be a teacher.

Well, last night really confirmed my desire to teach.

So, as you may know, I teach all grade levels but my focus is to primarily be on my secondary I and II classes and especially the secondary II+ class. This is like an advanced English class of grade 8 students. There are four boys and four girls: Rosalie, Flavie, Molly, Catherine, Gabriel, Bryan, Dominick, and Darcy. They are the most amazing group of students - so bright, so funny, and so so sweet. Since October we have been planning to do an English play partly as their evaluation and also as a fundraiser for an end-of-year English trip to (hopefully) PEI. The play is called Stan Tooth Shark's Last Treasure and was about pirates, mermaids, and of course, a lost treasure that is discovered by a pirate's grandchildren.

Me with the whole secII+ class (minus Marie-Josee)

Now, doing a play seems hard enough to pull off, but imagine doing it in a second language! Early in the process of the play, we had high hopes for this! We wanted to do a huge show with people coming from all over for it and hopefully get it on TV, radio, and the local papers. We wanted to take them somewhere really different and very English, like New York or Toronto. Somewhere where they would have to use English all day on the trip. We realized that these kinds of places may be too expensive for our students, even with the money we raise from the play, so we decided that Prince Edward Island was more reasonable. And if the play was a complete flop, then we could take them just on a little day trip somewhere.

Anyway, the months of rehearsing and preparing were so nerve-wracking for me and Marie-Josee (the English teacher)! There were many times that we wondered if we were being unrealistic with our expectations. It wasn't until March that they had their lines memorized. But the month before the show gave us hope; things had gotten so much better.

Finally the day of the play arrived!! For the morning I took the + students to the community centre to practice some. It was a little rocky because of some last minute changes to the set, but we were still positive. Then we had lunch together where I gave the students an English break so that they could speak French together. This turned into Let's-Test-Miss Becca's-French time! They loved it :) They always get a good laugh when I speak French to them.

The girls at lunchtime

Then the afternoon. We had our dress rehearsal, and it went alright but things were still a little rocky at points. The hour before the show the students were not nervous at all. Not a bit. I asked how they were feeling and they would shrug, "Oh, I feel fine. You, Miss Becca? Are you nervous?".... "No, not really."

When inside I was actually screaming, "I'm terrified!!! How are you not nervous at all?!!"

I don't normally get nervous before going on stage to act, but this time was a big exception! This time there was more at stake than just me messing up a line, it was about the students and wanting so badly for them to be proud of their accomplishment! I so badly wanted them to realize how impressive their English skills really are. And I wanted others to see how extraordinary these kids are!

Leading up to the show, we sold about 60 tickets. And we even got a small section in Rimouski's newspaper. We were pleased. A little audience of parents, grandparents, and a few friends. They would easily forgive us if we slipped up on something. The people started to arrive. First, Flavie's parents. Second, a few friends of mine (thanks guys). A few more parents. Then their friends started arriving. Friends that hadn't bought tickets. Students from my school that hadn't bought tickets. We were selling tickets at the door!! We had about 110 people in the audience!! You must also keep in mind that Les Hauteurs is a small community of about 500. All of the chairs in that little community centre were filled - we even had to set out more chairs! I thought this was a great thing!

Friends in the audience

About 15 minutes before the show, Marie-Josee let me know that I was to start ushering our students backstage into the wings. So I did. That's when I realized that there were only about three of them mingling in the crowd with their friends and family. Once I got them backstage, I was faced with four absolutely terrified students. They said that they weren't scared before, but that was when they thought it was only their parents and grandparents coming! They didn't know that all their friends were coming, and even a few friends that went to La Mistral (the high school).

"Can I abandon? Please? Can I?"
"I feel sick, like really really sick!"
"(various curse words)"

I calmed them down the best I could. Encouraged them, reminded them of how awesome they have been, and how great they would be. Then made my way on stage, behind the curtain where the other four students were waiting. I was greeted with the same terrified faces. They, too, were very nervous. They felt unprepared! But I knew they were so ready for this! Marie-Josee got on stage and I was so grateful to see her calm face. Together we tag-teamed and gave each little group a pep talk

Though they felt encouraged that we believed in them, they still looked terrified. And to be honest, I felt sick. Suddenly every possible thing that could go wrong crossed my mind, Molly puking on stage, Dominick and Gabriel running away, the curtain button breaking, the backdrop falling apart, a missed cue... The scary thing was that at that moment, these all could have happened with the state the kids were in (and honestly, the state that the centre was in).

I went back off stage to the first group. And the curtain went up. We got through the first two scenes flawlessly! I was feeling so proud of the kids for pushing down that fear and believing that they could do it!

I was standing beside one of the guys when he cam off stage and he said (something I'll never forget):

G: "Hey Miss Becca. I'm good."
B: "You were great. I knew you would be."
G: "You were right. I don't know what I was nervous. They were good. Thanks."
B: *smile*

By "they" he meant, the audience. That was what was on his mind. I felt soooo proud of him right then.

The show went amazing! At the end of it, we had a standing ovation! Marie-Josee and I were like proud mother hens. I was bursting with excitement (I still am).

The Play!!!

And the night only got better as I watched all the younger students start helping by packing up the chairs. Parents and friends were helping clean up the set, crushing the dozens and dozens of kleenex boxes that had served as our "cave" - I was amazed by the closeness of this little community. I felt blessed to be able to work with all these students and people! It was lovely meeting the kids' parents and seeing how proud they were of their children. It was reassuring for the kids to have their friends pat them on the back and say that it was good. There were so many memorable little moments from this evening and I could go on forever about it, but I will stop here as this is already an extremely long post!!

I can definitely say now that I want to teach. And I hope for many more of these memorable little moments in the years to come!!

Right after their bow - can you see how excited they are?!!