Celebrating Theatre in Our Schools Month at Waukee Middle School

Miles Burrell has big plans for a future career in theatre.

“Theatre is my passion personally. That’s what I plan to do in life,” says the 7th grader. “To have the tips and tricks from this class is really helpful for me.”

The Speech and Performance Class at Waukee Middle School has an impact on just about everyone in the building.

“People might not realize how much joy the theatre can bring them,” says 7th grader Ellie Hancock.

It also opens a door that was once closed.

“I have never really been a theatre person,” shares 7th grader Keerthy Vanukuri. “This class has showed me there is a whole new side to theatre. I even signed up to do the musical.”

Middle school theater class is the perfect place to start a search for our next high school star.

“We are really blessed with the cool theaters at Waukee High School, Northwest and even the TAC over at Prairieview,” shares Hancock. “We have great teachers and great students.”

“I love Waukee because they’ve really introduced and integrated a lot of those performing arts into regular school classes,” adds Burrell. 

Waukee Middle School students are taking advantage of this opportunity.

“Especially to people who normally don’t go outside of the box, it’s really great to find your comfort level in speaking,” says Vanukuri.

“Whether you are comfortable with public speaking or not, this is a class for you,” says Burrell. “We are all going to get to the same level.”

From a regularly scheduled school block, to front and center on stage, celebrating theatre in our schools is an important thing to do.

“I think every month should be Theatre Arts Month,” says Hancock. “It’s a really happy thing to do.”