“Everyday is something different,” Beth Barber, South drama teacher, said as she laughed to herself.

Barber recently started a new drama class for Teaching and Life Skills (TLS) students. Barber explained that she had been trying to start a class for students with special needs for several years. However, the response was always that there weren’t enough kids to make the program worthwhile. After reviewing the number of students in this year’s TLS program, she tried once more to add a drama class to the TLS curriculum.

“I reproposed it and voila,” Barber said.

The class consists of 15 TLS students, one peer mentor and five adult aids. According to Barber, the class is similar to a regular Drama One Class, with some small differences.

“I’m learning because it has only been a few days,” Barber said. “I come in with so much planned, 90 minutes goes fast, but I’ll have  [a certain amount] planned and only get through [so] much. That is what I am adjusting to.”

Barber added that she plays trial and error with different activities and games. She said that some things work really well, while others don’t. According to Barber, when an activity really molds with the group, it is obvious.

“We played this game that I thought, ‘I’m not really sure how this is going to work,’ and they loved it,” Barber said ”So it’s about following directions, listening, [and] things taking the place symbolically of something else. They were so enthusiastic!”

There are some issues that Barber is facing, including the fact that the kids come into class at different times due to their schedules. She also expressed the need to understand each student’s capabilities.

“Just like any class, every kid learns differently, so everyone is at a different level,” Barber said.

Despite some adjustments, Barber expressed the benefits of leading this class.

“Students in theatre are so amazingly accepting and wonderful […], I think it’s just an enriching experience for not only students with special needs, but students in regular education,” Barber said.

Working with TLS students is important to Drama Club, according to Barber. On Sept. 26, Drama Club participated in a 5K walk/run to fundraise for Special Gifts Theatre, a theatre dedicated to working with kids with special needs.

Barber decided to work with this theatre because three students in her TLS class have participated in the program, and two of her regular drama class students have volunteered there. One of these students, senior Julia Packer, explained the work she did at the theatre.

“You talk about the themes within the show,” Packer said. “You do different activities and then you get assigned your ‘buddy’, and you work them through the process.”

According to Packer, she volunteered last year while they were doing the show Aladdin. She explained that a peer mentor accompanies his or her buddy on stage for the performance with note cards to help them with movement and lines.

“I think it is really cool to see the ending product, to see how happy the kids get,” Packer said.

Similar to Packer, Barber states she has high hopes for the new class. She hopes more students will join and that more peer mentors will also participate. Finally, she wants the TLS students to have some reward at the end.

“My goal [is to have] some kind of performance at the end,” Barber said. “I don’t mean some big lavish production, […] just some production they can do for a group of people. Maybe, it’s just friends and family.”

However, if this does not happen, Barber expressed enthusiasm for the class and what it will accomplish.

“There is something for everyone,” Barber said. “It’s not about making actors. It’s about growing and learning who you are as a person.”