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Education

Care, teamwork and a bit of chaos power this elementary school staff’s production

Roosevelt staff transform into unicorns, fairies, dragons — but their message is sincere

  • Dec. 24, 2024 9:00 p.m.
From left, Roosevelt Elementary School first-grade teacher Bobby Cañares, principal Aaron Darragh and fourth-grade teacher Megan Mayer open the Winter Production on Dec. 20. "The Enchanted Forest a Never-Ever-Ending Story" transported the two main characters to an enchanted forest in the clouds with a magical book. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
By Hailey Hoffman Visual Journalist

With butcher paper, string lights, balloons and a lot of glitter, the Roosevelt Elementary School’s gym transforms into a magical land once a year.

For the 11th year in a row, teachers and staff and dazzled their students with an original production on Friday, Dec. 20.

This year, in “The Enchanted Forest a Never-Ever-Ending Story,” two teachers playing children went on a magical journey after finding a book from a wizard and were helped by a cloud guide and a benevolent, but sassy, Sasquatch. Along the way, they met fairies, unicorns, gnomes and dragons as they explored the magical land.

Directed by fourth-grade teacher Jennifer Schiffner and librarian Andrea Dunkin, the play aimed to encourage children to recognize their different strengths and use them to work together.

P.E. teacher Chris Benson sits before the show. He performed as the Cloud Ferryman, twirling white ribbons across the gym to the delight of children. The show has gone on for 11 years and has become a key part of the school’s culture, Dunkin said. “The staff is really empowered to take on leadership roles and to come up [with] ideas about what they want to do,” Dunkin said. “And there’s buy-in among the rest of the staff. It isn’t like, ‘Oh, if the principal doesn’t tell us to do it, then we’re not going to do it.’” (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
Gnomes and fairies gather in the back corner of the school’s gym before the show. Forty-six teachers and staff participated in the show this year. “It’s hard to imagine like, why is the staff taking all this time to do this, when it seems like we never have time for anything else,” Schiffner said. “You have to be in it to see the why.” (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
Fifth-grader Trey Brown reacts as he enters the school gym, transformed into a magical land by covering the walls in colorful butcher paper and string lights. “We keep it going because it’s important to all of us,” Schiffner said. She said they receive $500 from the Roosevelt Parent Teacher Association for the show and use old props and lots of butcher paper to transform the gym. “We could do a master class on butcher paper,” Schiffner said. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
Principal Aaron Darragh as the wizard raises his hand, drawing the attention of the hundreds of children in the room, to make announcements before the show begins. “As much as we do this for the kids, what I really see is how important it is for adults,” he said in an interview. “We parallel through this process what we want from our kids — their learning journey in our school. For adults to be vulnerable and get up and take those risks in front of our kids — it’s really powerful.” (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
The show began in the city, with teachers and staff holding cardboard paintings of buildings to set the scene. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
Multilingual Learner Specialist Carmen Avila Cervera as Sasquatch (AKA “Aunt Sass”) appears with a solo dance. Avila choreographed all the dances in the show and filmed instructor videos for the staff to watch and learn in their spare time. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
Librarian and show director Dunkin, left, sits to the side with third-grade teacher Megan Thygesen as she narrates the show. The show relied on narration and queues, so cast members didn’t have to memorize lines. Due to limited time, they only rehearsed the whole show all together twice. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
The garden gnomes line dance to “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” Schiffner and Dunkin began planning the show during their summer off, tossing out random ideas that resulted in an enchanted forest in the sky. Schiffner said the silly creativity of it is a positive thing for them and the other teachers and staff. “It fills our buckets,” Dunkin said. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
A Fairy of Doubt dances with iridescent wings. The fairies appeared whenever the main characters felt unsure or scared of what to do in their journey. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
The dragons soar together in front of their volcano. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
The unicorns with party-hat horns and paper hooves stomp together on stage. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
Third-grader Kamilla Millan Lahatt claps for the teachers and staff at the end of the show. Dunkin said they love looking back at the students’ faces and seeing their delight throughout the show. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)
The cast ends the show. “In the end, they come back to the wizard, and they’re informed that they get to continue writing — their story always continues,” Dunkin said. (Hailey Hoffman/Cascadia Daily News)

Hailey Hoffman is a CDN visual journalist; reach her at haileyhoffman@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 103.

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