After a full day of classes at Community High School, junior Hank Miller makes the trip to Pioneer High School every day to participate in Pioneer Theatre Guild (PTG). Miller, a full time Community student, has been an active participant in Pioneer Theatre Guild since his freshman year. “It was a foregone conclusion that when I came to high school, I would do PTG,” Miller said.
Miller chose to participate in PTG instead of Community’s theater program, Community Ensemble Theater, because it offered a different environment.Miller has been able to participate in a different school’s theater program because up until now, there has not been a policy set in place about students participating in other schools’ theater programs. Community High School students have always been allowed to participate in other shows at different schools, and vice versa.
In the spring of the 2010-2011 school year, Pioneer Theatre Guild opened its shows to all students in the district. Susan Hurwitz, co-sponsor of Pioneer Theatre Guild, did not think this would be a problem because of the lack of a policy. Recently, however, the Ann Arbor Public Schools District has decided to form a policy regarding this issue. Although no decisions have been made yet, some are worried that the district could place restrictions on students participating in theater programs.
“My life has revolved around PTG since the beginning of freshman year … If I couldn’t do PTG, I really don’t know what I would do,” Miller said. Miller is the lead of Pioneer’s upcoming play, “Phantom of the Opera”. The upcoming show involves many students from schools other than Pioneer: Ari Axelrod, a Skyline senior, plays a lead along with Clare Lauer, a CHS senior. Kate Summers, a CHS junior, has been the stage manager for the past three PTG shows.
“We’d have to change what we do. We’d have to really shrink,” said Hurwitz. “It would affect us, and we’d have to figure out how to move on. It would make me very sad.”
Hurwitz also believes that having students from other schools participating in PTG adds to the dynamics of the group. “It gives a dynamism to the group. They bring different interests and different friends and different experiences. I think it’s a really good thing,” she said.
While Hurwitz and many students believe the theater program should be left open to all students, some parents and administration officials are against that position. Some have complained that the current status is unfair because it takes away opportunities from students of the school putting on the show. However, Hurwitz believes that restricting the shows to just students from that school would result in less shows and ultimately fewer opportunities for everyone.
According to Liz Margolis, director of communications at AAPS, the district will be deciding on the openness of theater programs with input from all of the schools. Regardless of the outcome, the new policy will not be implemented until the 2012-2013 school year. For now, the district is allowing students like Miller to continue participating in other schools’ theater programs.
As the district makes its decision, Hurwitz hopes that the programs can remain open to all students. “I think, my personal preference, is to let kids do whatever makes them happy — with regards to theater,” she said. For now, Hurwitz is continuing to run PTG without letting the decision-making process affect her. “I can’t let it interfere with what’s going on here on a daily basis. There’s just too much to do here,” she said.
