2020 Spring Semester TST Reflections

đ&#x;Œ ​Reflection   Spring Semester  2020

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Well. Deep sigh. Where do I begin?

Fall semester was a dream and seems many moons ago. Where the Tractor Shed was buzzing with meeting new diverse Beginning Theatre Arts students and prepping for our fall shows. Fall play production chose a really big theme of disney’s villains and we created our original storyline for thousands of trick-or-treaters. Things took a turn as a storm kept us wet but not down as we managed our show under tents. The Fall Play Production troupe was such an amazing wee group. Their work ethic was bar none. Our freshmen team stepped up and were able to learn so much in such a short time. Their hearts were as big as their efforts and they chose to bring our civic engagement production in house. We met with our Exceptional Children’s team to design a show just for them! It was incredibly well-received and brought in much-needed funds for their program. Such a heart-felt and warm semester full of love and cheer.

Spring Semester started and we were hopeful for a repeat of an amazing semester. However, soon enough our hearts were broken with the news of the death of an alumni. We band together and supported friends and family in the Tractor Shed for a celebration of life. We were devastated. We kept close to one another and started our annual TST Live! Intermediate Theatre Arts created some hilarious commercials and Play Production acted out sketch comedy.

As we drew near the performance, I started to run a fever. I stayed home. And in early March, I was one of the first tested for COVID-19. Even though my test came back “not detected”, I didn’t return. It was the first time in 14 years of not seeing my students perform. Mrs. Deal-flynn stepped in and the show went on. However, it would be the last day of the school year. The world shut down. I didn’t see my students again until March 23rd when I created ​Virtually Yours, TST.​ Spring semester carried on online. I gave my students creative work and they excelled remotely.

We were the only high school to attempt our spring production virtually. We learned a lot. I mean a lot! When students heard grades didn’t count, we lost a few along the way but the majority stayed and continued working for no grade. Ten teens created an original show called QuaranTEENS t​ o time-capsule their experience during quarantine. I’ll never forget this year. It’s been a life-changing year for all of us. I was so proud of our work. We continued the Tractor Shed Theatre motto: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” ~ Tennyson And so we end our chapter here and look back as we always do with a better understanding of how to begin again.

SSHS TST Educator/Director

Molly Rice

An original show written for the virtual venue. A glimpse into the quarantined lives of ten teens as they time capsule their thoughts, feelings, and day to day activities during the CoVid19 pandemic. We premiered it on YouTube.

See Act One here

See Act Two here

Producing a play takes a lot of time and money. We purchased a few digital tools to help us produce our show but time is what we mostly spent . It took a lot of time of square-eyed work to figure out our new stage. We researched the trends of quarantine and attempted to showcase those. We all were so excited to watch our show go live on Youtube! Actors sent me photos of them and their families cuddled up on couches to view their work! Seniors ​Natalie Watson​ & ​Seven Lasley ​were the backbone of the production. Seven, along with a team of editors, spent hours trimming, adding music, choosing the right font, and putting the show in order for render. We became pros at WeVideo and Adobe Spark! We were grateful our chromebooks offered these design tools. As always we made do with what we had. Most filming was done with cell phones or Zoom. Each actor also became a technician. Seven and I did most of the editing and kept the order and editing of the show a surprise for the cast until opening night. We were brave and worked hard to figure it all out. I’m so proud of these land-breaking teens.

See our virtual Playbill here

Our PR went virtual, too​ - c ​ heck it out here

Our show caught the attention of the New York nurse on the frontline of the fight against CoronaVirus. We scripted her viral post into a reading that she said moved her to tears.

We were on WHKY with Fentress Chestnut. We were her first ​Zoom interview​!

Virtual Auditions: We held virtual auditions for the 2020-2021 school year via Google Meet. It was wonderful meeting the rising freshmen who performed beautifully online with memorized monologues. ​Check out our audition page.

Check out what ​upperclassmen​ had to share about the program to encourage membership.

Seniors: ​Saying goodbye is always so bittersweet. We build such a tight-knit family in the Tractor Shed. 4 years of growing and creating art together fosters lifetime friendships. My heart was extra heavy not being able to celebrate fully the achievements of this year’s graduating class. The senior awards went to Seven Lasley & Natalie Watson for their work on Quaranteens.

Virtually Yours, tst: ​March 23rd, 2020 o​ pened our emergency remote learning sessions. The Tractor Shed Theatre went dark.

I created the ​Virtually Yours, TST website​ to give a friendlier more colorful space to learn along with the practical Google Classroom. I used over 40 digital tools in our new online playground.

We will continue our journey here for 2020-2021 While in remote emergency learning, we kept our creative work going! For our first project, all Tractor Shed Theatre students participated in a theme. We chose our art form and examined quarantine through the arts.

Students chose to write original diaries, music, rap, spoken word, poetry, monologues, visual arts, film, design & production, or dance. The Hickory Playground hosted the contest called​ The Quarantine Diaries​ which gave artists a space around the world to showcase their art on the website. Hundreds of entries came in and our very own Sarah B. at Junior was chosen and received a cash prize. ​Check out their amazing artistic efforts here

Listen to Sarah on Sound Cloud ​or listen here on the ​Hickory Playground site

Virtual tst Coffeehouse! ​We went virtual with Coffeehouse. It was wonderful to see that our alumni could catch up with us and perform!

Netflix & Quarantine! ​As we settled into this new virtual space, we were

excited to be entertained by one of our very own! TST alumni Drew Starkey made waves of Netflix and had all the TST students rushing to watch his latest action on Netflix. Drew’s not the only successful actor to discover their talent in the shed, we’ve even had an alumni on Broadway! Check out our alumni page on our website!

tst Live! ​The last live show before our emergency shut-down was our annual TST Live!

We performed to two back-to-back sold-out shows! Intermediate Theatre Arts created hilarious spoof commercials while Spring Play Production performed classic comedic scenes. ​March 12th, 2020​ last live show in the shed. Check it out ​here.

The last photo of the ​Tractor Shed Theatre ​before the ​TST Live!​ Show before the emergency shutdown.

NC School Hero: ​For the second year in a row, Tractor Shed Theatre students

and parents nominated Mrs. Rice for the ​NC Education Lottery School Hero​ contest. Our fingers are still crossed as they have delayed the announcement due to COVID. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our wee program won 10,000!

Watch students talk about why Mrs. Rice and the Tractor Shed Theatre should be chosen!

Mrs. Rice had over 17,000 votes from the community!

“Molly Rice has been my theatre teacher, mentor, and friend for the past 4 years. Her empathy and love towards her students is greater than any other teacher I’ve had. Mrs. Rice guides us as we do civic engagement projects, bringing light to issues in our community. We learn so much

from these hands-on experiences she provides for us. Not only is she our theatre director, but she is like a mom to all of us. The theatre is like a second home where we feel protected and always loved. Her words have shaped my life for the past 4 years but it certainly won’t end there. Mrs. Rice would be perfect for this award because of her never ending love and understanding towards her students no matter what background they come from.” ~ Natalie Watson

Say Something Week: ​Students Against Violence Everywhere (S.A.V.E)

Promise Club which is the play production cast of the Tractor Shed Theatre hosted their second annual Say Something Week in league with Sandy Hook Promise. It was awesome to have The Key Club join us with Welcome Wednesday and first-time joiners: Mrs. Bigg’s and her English IV Classes.

Sandy Hook Promise: ​For the second year in a row, we won the Student

Voices Contest at the High School level for our Start With Hello work in the fall. They sent us these nifty certificates in the new year and some money! ​Check out our video here

New Light Board: ​For 14 years of service our Horizon Lights System served us

proudly! Sadly, this year our light board died. We went with Barbizon Lighting Company and our friend Jordan Makant helped us fit the Tractor Shed Theatre with its new system. Jordan not only taught the students how lights work but also how to program the new system!

Grant Recipient of Hickory Playground: ​The cast of Spring Play Production were delighted to celebrate our fourth year of support from this outstanding local organization. Check out their amazing work - ​The Hickory Playground

Tst Coffeehouse: ​The new semester brought in a few Coffeehouses before we went virtual. One of our favorites was when Jack K, SSHS student and amazing magician tried out some new tricks on us! Jack also joined us virtually and features in our spring production QuaranTEENS​.

Curriculum Fair: ​In February, we participated in the annual Curriculum Fair to

welcome rising freshmen. It’s always nice to meet the 8th graders and encourage them to join Tractor Shed Theatre. Freshmen Emmalee & Jordan join seniors Seven & James and share why they love the Tractor Shed Theatre.

Governor’s School : ​Rising Senior Emily H. auditioned and made it into the

prestigious North Carolina Governor’s School being the sixth Tractor Shed Theatre student accepted. T ​ he Governor's School of North Carolina is a 5½-week summer residential

program for gifted and talented high school students, integrating academic disciplines, the arts, and unique courses on each of two campuses.

Alumni Life Celebration: ​Alongside our successes this semester, was some major heartbreak. A well-known TST alumni suddenly died causing much grief throughout our community. We were honored to hold a Celebration of Life on Dariyon’s birthday 2/13 in the Tractor Shed Theatre for gathered friends, family, and current students.

Rest in peace, sweet friend.