2012 Testimonials
SHAYLA GRANTHAM: She was a talented actress, but she’d done no theatre. She could sing, she could dance, and she could act, but she’d never done anything with it…until she joined our speech team. I worked with her for two years and kept encouraging her to audition for more theatre…I spoke to her parents. This past summer she finally took a chance and auitioned….She got a role in Les Miserables. GINNY MOORE: She was in special ed, had no support from home, lived in a house with 11 people, and shared an unheated garage with her grandmother, mom and two brothers. They had no money to buy gas and drive her to practice, so we made a game of it. We rehearsed before school, lunch hour, any time we could. I thought she should do a duet so she’d have some help, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She wanted to do The True Story of the Three Little Pigs as a solo. One week before contest she came to me in tears. Her family was going to move away before the contest. I begged and pleaded and the family let her stay to go to contest. She received a first place from the judge and it was changed to 2nd because of timing, but you’d have thought she’d won an academy award. She left our school on a high note. Through speech she’d proved to her family and herself that she could conquer! STEVE WILLIAMS: The four 12-year-old girls came into my room on the Monday before contest. They were in tears. The fifth member of their group could not attend the contest on Saturday. Her mother insisted on taking her to St. Louis to shop. We had two options…one was to drop out of the contest and the other was illegal. A young lady in my class saw all the crying and came up to ask what was going on. She was a little awkward and very shy, but she said, “I can do it.” I looked at the other girls and said, “She can do it.” The other four were so relieved that they forgot they weren’t friends with the shy girl. They hammered out a four-day rehearsal schedule and the next day the new girl came with the whole script memorized. She did a wonderful job and the group got special recognition. …but more than that, they became friends. Out of all the kids I’ve coached, that shy little girl is the one I’m most proud of.
STACEY WORRELL: This summer a college sophomore approached me in Jimmy John’s with tears in his eyes. He said, “Mrs. Worrell you introduced me to drama and I just want to thank you. I’m majoring in drama and some day I hope to inspire kiddos like you inspired me. And oh….here are tickets to my next play.” And I thought Jimmy John’s was just freaky fast and not tear-filled.
CINDY ANDERSON: Our Amanda, a special ed student, faithfully participated in Literary for three years, always struggling and receiving second places for performance. We encouraged her to keep at it but in 8th grade, she could not find a partner for a duet and was ready to give up. My partner coach Cathy and I literally twisted her arm, gave her a solo "Fish Story" and spent extra time working with her. On contest day she was absolutely glowing because she KNEW she could win a first in her performance. Not only did she do that, she earned a special Rec for an outstanding performance. Afterward Cathy and I managed to hold it together enough to congratulate and hug her and send her off to watch for her score...and then collapsed in tears on each others' shoulders in the hall. I imagine several people thought we were completely nuts, but we were so invested in that girl - and was it ever worth it! Our Literary program is the most important activity at school - the kids learn so much, and grow so much...while they have fun! SUZANNE PETTYJOHN: His name is Zaxxson - his mother named him after a video game. When he was in the fifth grade, our head coach had spent extra time with him on poetry, even to the point of having him to her house to practice; picking himup, taking him home; encouraging him. We had never seen such determination to 'rise above . situation' as we saw in this child. On that contest day, we had a mini-disaster and the head coach was dealing with a sick child, so I took Zaxxson into his performance - I had never worked with him. But I encouraged him told him to go in and knock'em dead - and he did. He kept doing the same through 6th grade and jr. high and went on to star in theatrics in high school. The family situation never improved, and this young man found himself homeless in high school with a mother on the run from authorities. Because of the bond he and I had forged through Literary when he was a child and the bonds he formed with our kids through Literary and music in high school, we were able to adopt him, make him a member of our family, and see him safely through college. After that fifth grade performance, and an 8th grade Special Rec, a proud day in our lives was seeing him as The Pirate King in SIU Edwardsville performances of The Pirates of Penzance. Zaxxson is our son, now serving as a missionary teacher in the Dominican Republic, and this wonderful addition to our lives and family would not have happened without the first bond of our Literary program.