For middle school student Hanna Erikkila, drama class is all about self improvement. 

“I joined drama because I wanted to improve my self-esteem and my ability to speak in public clearly, without a stutter,” she said. 

One of the most important aspects of middle school is helping students understand their interests and values before they head off to high school. The revamped drama class being offered at Powell Middle School is one example.

Ahead of this academic year middle school teachers Stan Hedges and Jessica Purdum were approached by Chanler Buck, the activities director and assistant principal, about introducing a revamped drama program. 

The two agreed and now work together to lead students through the many intricate details of becoming actors. 

While the class was once a club at the school, adding it as an elective is a much better way to keep students engaged, said Hedges. 

“I knew that if I learned the basics, it would be easier for me to get a role in high school theater,” eighth grader Fae McNair said. 

The students have been hard at work doing all sorts of acting throughout the school year, but most recently they paired with another new elective, a film class, to create mini productions. 

Hedges introduced the students to “PEEPS” at the start of the school year to help students grasp a good understanding of acting. 

“PEEPS is projection, enunciation, emotion, pause, and slow-down,” Hedges said. “Those five things are the essential, basic building blocks of any performance. We worked on those up until this point, and that will hopefully feed into the film production.”

Having actors with a basic understanding of their roles helped make this combination of electives much more exciting.

“It was really funny because our directors didn’t really know what the main idea of the story was… so we kind of just figured it out, and they filmed it,” McNair said. 

Going with the flow is a major part of acting, and oftentimes helps youth become stronger young adults. 

“I like knowing that I’m not going to be mocked for doing anything … and having the feeling that it’s OK to be embarrassed,” Erikkila said. “It helps me with making my speech better, and louder.” 

Not only do the students notice a change in their demeanor, but so do their instructors. 

“There are students where I have heard them say maybe one word before this class,” Purdum said. “Then they get to be like a completely different person because we make it a really comfortable space for them to perform and play in.”