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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (April 6, 2018)
PAGE A4, KEIZERTIMES, APRIL 6, 2018 KeizerCommunity Zombies invade Whiteaker class KEIZERTIMES.COM KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary senior Bella Fox will compete in solo experienced acting at the State Thespian Festival on April 5-7 in Salem. McNary senior competing in state theatre festival By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes Last April, Bella Fox got a chance to perform on the Elsinore Theatre stage at the State Thespian Festival as a cast member of McNary’s production of Defying Grav- ity. This year, she has a chance to return as a solo performer. Fox, a senior at McNary, qualifi ed for state in solo experienced acting at the regional competition on February 3 at South Eugene High School. “I have an audition slot and then if I do well I get to perform on the Elsinore stage,” said Fox, who did two contrasting monologues, one a contemporary piece from Butterfl ies Are Free and the other as Calpurnia from Julius Caesar, at regionals in front of three different judges at three separate times. The qualifying top 10 per- cent in each category from the regionals audition for the state showcase. Fox used the competition to help her get ready for col- lege auditions at Southern Oregon University in Ash- land and Minnesota State University, Mankato, where she hopes to major in theatre. “I didn’t expect that I was going to go to state,” Fox said. “I really just wanted to go there for the feedback and try to improve myself for the auditions and really perfect them” When Fox accepted her ribbon, she thought she was named a regional fi nalist. It wasn’t until fi ve minutes later when she looked down at the ribbon and saw it said, “state qualifi er.” “It meant so much,” Fox said. “It was something that I really wanted to get because I’d gone to state last year for Defying Gravity. (I thought) if I can go in a group maybe I can prove to myself that it wasn’t just my cast and my- self working towards one goal but I can do it myself. I re- ally strived to become part of that.” While Fox was the only McNary student to qualify for state, Lilla Seitz and In- grid Dunn were regional fi nalists in experienced duo musical and Grace Condello was a regional fi nalist for solo experienced musical. The State Thespian Fes- tival, attended by over 1,000 theatre students and teachers from around the state, is April 5-7 in Salem. puzzle answers By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes Heather Woodward, lan- guage arts teacher at White- aker Middle School, was tired of canned teenage debate topics like, should kids be able to use their cell phones in class? Instead she thought of what her eighth graders could argue about that would be in- teresting and fun. So for two weeks, Zom- bies took over Woodward’s classroom. “Especially coming back fresh from a new semester, I wanted them to be excited,” Woodward said. “I wanted their buy-in more than any- thing. It makes the rest of the unit easier if they have an idea of how to argue and they’re used to talking to each other about what they’re working on.” With surviving the zombie apocalypse as their objective, Woodward divided each of her fi ve classes into teams of fi ve students. The fi rst thing she had the students do was pack a backpack with 10 items from their home. Using a Google earth map, groups then had to decide where they would stay and they had to back up their claims with supporting evidence to defeat the zombies. Since Whiteaker’s zombies didn’t like water and couldn’t swim, a popular destination was downtown Salem by the Willamette River. Other stu- dents chose farms, Keizer Sta- tion, Walmart and Costco. They also watched videos, made posters, read books and played games. “Kids compared it to the Oregon Trail video game,” Woodward said. “There was a lot of critical thinking. We Photo illustration made up a list of zombie characteristics and then they had to fi nd ways to defeat the zombies. We had a great time with it. It was almost too much fun. It was so loud in here. They were super into it. They had a market place day where they could trade items with other teams.” Using online resources like from the Center for Disease Control, which uses the zom- bie apocalypse to teach kids how to prepare for disasters, Woodward had enough ma- terial for a month but decided to end the zombie unit after two weeks. “We needed to restore a little order,” Woodward said. “The apocalypse, it turned out, was chaotic.” And when it became time to move on to other issues like the Civil Rights Move- ment during Black History Month or the school shoot- ing in Parkland, Fla., students were more engaged and ready to talk. “They were ready to ar- gue,” Woodward said. “The energy level was already high. The class discussions were that much deeper. They were used to talking to each oth- er and used to having ideas where there was disagree- ment and that was ok.” Woodward said she will defi nitely do the zombie until against next year. “I love getting feedback from the kids,” Woodward said. “They have the best ideas. They’ll direct me for next year. Their feedback will be very valuable.”