Campus: Fern Bluff Students Learn Character Matters Through Play

ROUND ROCK LEADER
June 29, 2009


By LISA MACK
Special to the Leader

"Everyone finds themselves wondering how to act or what to do in certain situations," noted Rapunzel at the most recent meeting of the Fairy Tale Advice Council.

Miss the meeting?

It was held at Fern Bluff Elementary on May 15 as the third-grade Drama Club performed the show "Character Matters" for all the students at the school during daytime assemblies and for their parents and friends in a final evening performance.

Rapunzel, The Witch, and The Prince (played by Olivia Lord, Rose Anconetani and Naren Gundapaneni) chaired the meeting, where all attending fairy tale characters learned from each other that character matters. They shared many of the witty lines in the show, such as when The Prince mentioned he told Pinocchio his friendship came with too many strings attached.

The songs were catchy, with enough wit for adults to enjoy and for all ages to get the point.

Little Red Riding Hood (Rylie York) and her friends (David Tang, Kendall Heath) reminded the Big Bad Wolf (Molly Riquelmy) that it's wrong to eat people, especially beloved grandmothers, and asked if she had ever heard of the Golden Rule. Little Red continued, singing, "Think, think, think Mr. Wolfie. Walk in Grandma's shoes. How, how, how would you like it if Grandma swallowed you?"

Next up were Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Baby Bear (Jake McCormick) was having real trouble forgiving Goldilocks (Lauren Mack) who sang, "I made a mistake. Can you forgive me? Please give me a break." Papa Bear (Ethan Ambrose) and Mama Bear (Grace Greenly) encouraged Baby Bear to forget about lunch but all he could think about was his chair that was crunched. Finally, Baby Bear realized he needed to forgive and forget and all three agreed that because "forgiveness rocks" they should all forgive Goldilocks - and change all the locks!

The Three Little Pigs were at odds with each other as Pig 1 and Pig 2 (Mira Jain, Siya Askatar) wanted to build their homes quickly with straw and sticks and not bricks since they "are too much work you fool. We'll finish fast, then hit the pool." But the third pig (Mia Prieto) was sticking up for her beliefs and asserted "only bricks are strong enough to withstand Wolfie's huff and puff. So call me names, but I won't bite. I've got to do, got to do what I think's right."

Cinderella (Katy Crosby) admitted to an anger problem despite how storybooks portray her as sweet and patient.

Tired of cleaning up the table while her sisters are watching stuff on cable, she lamented what to do. So did her mice (Anna Grace Diestenbier, Katie Swain) and they are all advised, "Count to ten, walk away, take a breath, you're OK."

When the Snow White Mirrors (Chloe Orr, Elizabeth Hatch, Jeremy Williams) have to respond to the question "Who's the fairest of them all?" they dared not answer honestly else risk being shattered into a million pieces. Again, a wise company answered in song, "Be honest. Go make the right call. For honesty's really the fairest of all."

Jack (Kelsie Myers) and the Giant (Jennifer Molis) are welcomed back from a previous meeting to see how their new friendship is working out. Both admitted first impressions can be wrong.

Friends (Jace Caldwell, Brooke Crosby, Finn Rooney) reported the great fall of Humpty Dumpty (Emily Lai) who gave many excuses why the crash wasn't her fault including the moon, her socks, the wind and a rash.

With enough encour-agement from the cast and a bit of scolding for the tall tales, she did take responsibility for her actions in the end. Only then did Humpty Dumpty finally stand tall.

With a note that the Wolf should bring doughnuts the next time, the Fairy Tale Advice Council meeting was quickly adjourned and those in the audience were sorry to see it end.


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