Open Forum

My apologies for being a bit tardy with my Wednesday Wisdom. I had an unfortunate family crisis which delayed my post.

One of my favorite memories of when I was a thespian in Troupe 182 at South High School in Wichita Kansas, was the end of year celebration when our troupe director, Miss Karen Pyles, would award acting and tech awards to fellow thespians. It as a fun event with lots of ceremony that has stuck with me all these years. 

Fast forward quite a few years to when I started to teach at Garfield High School in Seattle Washington. I wanted to replicate and honor the legacy that Miss Pyles had given to me. Of course, times had changed and I wanted to bring my own flair to the event ceremony I envisioned. I reached out to the company that Miss Pyles had bought the awards from, amazing that they were still in business, to see if I could order the same type of awards from when I was a thespian. Unfortunately, they were no longer making that style of award. Undaunted I decided to recreate the awards myself, you see I still have the ones I had received as a high school student. A simple design, a cherrywood square approximately 3 ½" on a side, beveled top edges, a medallion top center, with the award engraved on a brass plaque. Easy peasy, once I found vendors to buy the supplies I needed. I thought about my students when I made each award.

Being a mentor to all of my students I knew that I could not be the one to determine who should get what award. I reached out to my colleagues in the professional world and universities where I had taught and/or worked to solicit adjudicators to determine the outcome. Depending on the year I had between 6 and 8 people adjudicators come to all of our performances. It was a big-time commitment for these colleagues, because we did four mainstage productions a year, including a Shakespeare, straight comedy/drama/mystery show, children's theatre show, and a full-scale musical. In addition to that we did between 25 and 35 student directed one acts a year. These adjudicators were anonymous to the students, they never knew who they were or when they would come. After the final performance of the musical the adjudicators would meet and determine who should get the awards for that year. All of the awards for performance and tech were non-binary so that "the best" person received the awards.

The awards ceremony itself was a grand event and very elegant. The troupe officers would determine a theme for the evening and the decorations and the food would be in line with that theme. My parent group would provide the decorations and either made the food themselves or would cater it depending on their culinary skills. It was held in the lobby of the performing arts center and everyone would dress up for the occasion, students and adults.

After a couple of years, I thought something was missing, so with the help of the parent group we purchased a 25 to 30 foot by 4-foot red carpet to greet the attendees as they came to the door. Great fun was had with everyone taking pictures and strutting up and down the red carpet. After a scrumptious banquet we would migrate into the theatre. After a slide show highlighting the theatrical accomplishment of the year the awards would be presented. In addition to the acting and tech awards, we would induct new thespians, give earned stars and bars to current thespians, and reveal the plaque where the outgoing troupe president's name was engraved for posterity.

But there were two special awards that I alone chose and gave to deserving students. Those were: The Unsung Hero award and the Golden Hammer award.

The Unsung Hero was given to a student who tirelessly worked behind the scenes helping people and the production without seeking accomplishments or accolades, just doing their jobs to the best of their ability. Their name was also unveiled on a plaque for posterity and they received a certificate and a medallion.

The Golden Hammer was an actual hammer. A brand-new hammer painted metallic gold, with a brass engraved plaque attached. This award was given to a new student who showed the most talent and creativity in the technical arena, but had not moved up yet to the design phase.

I am sure that all of you have some form of recognizing student achievement and it is not a one size fits all situation. I do hope that you have fun in doing something for and with your students and parent supporters, and maybe get some inspiration from my recollections.

All this because I felt appreciated and honored while I was a thespian in Troupe 182 with Miss Pyles. Someone I will never forget, who influenced me greatly, and set me on the road I still travel.