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Polk County Education 12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 6, 2016 Children’s theater keeps local tradition alive By Jennifer Halley The Itemizer-Observer MONMOUTH — “Ready! And act — hold on.” Rob Harriman bolts off stage and grabs a chair from somewhere behind it, yank- ing it onto the otherwise empty platform. By now, kids are piling onto the stage. Harriman’s voice bellows out commands and sugges- tions, his deep tone a stark contrast to the soft voices of children. As the children move around the stage and run through a rehearsal of “Jolly Roger and the Pirate King,” a production of Apple box Children’s Theater, the empty stage comes to life. It is a sight to see: Harri- man in his director’s chair on the grass, scurrying things down on a script, shouting out commands — albeit kindly — and kids, belting out lines, laughing and smiling. Welcome to rehearsal night at Western Oregon University’s outdoor am- phitheater. Harriman established Apple Box Children’s Theater with his wife, Barbara, who is the company’s production manager. As a child in the late ’70s, Harriman acted in JENNIFER HALLEY/ Itemizer-Observer Apple Box Children’s Theater participants rehearse a scene. Children will perform Thursday through Saturday. summer plays put on by Western Oregon University, then known as Western Ore- gon College, Barbara said. Professor Don Weiss was in charge of the company. “When he passed away seven years ago, we had a memorial for him,” Barbara said. She added that the seed money from the memorial helped to start Apple Box Children’s Theater, a compa- ny currently in its sixth pro- duction. Outdoor theater is not as common as it used to be, and the Harrimans said they are happy to bring it back. Funding for each produc- tion — one each summer — is provided for by Polk County Cultural Coalition. A budget of $2,500 sounds im- pressive, but after costumes, stage props, lighting, sound systems, and everything else that consists of making a successful production, there is not a lot of wiggle room. “None of us are paid,” Barbara said. “It’s all volun- teer.” Parents of the children acting in the plays are the most helpful, she added. They help paint the props, make costumes, set up sound systems and overall work to create a fun envi- ronment for the theater company. The children acting in Jolly Roger and the Pirate King range from second to eighth grade. Henry Doellinger, a soon- to-be fifth grader at Mon- mouth Elementary School, says he has worked with Apple Box Children’s Theater before, and that he enjoys being in plays. His younger sister, Olive, is also in this summer’s production. Both children play pirates. Sarah Wabra, also a soon- to-be fifth grader, says she gets “really nervous” during the plays. “I think, ‘oh man, what if I mess up?’ But at the end (of the play), I’m like, ‘oh that was a piece of cake,’” she said. Savannah Smith, a 12- year-old going into the sev- enth grade, said that memo- rizing lines could be diffi- cult. “But once you do it for the thousandth time, it gets easier,” she added with a laugh. Jolly Roger and the Pirate Queen, a play of love and swashbuckling pirates, of swords and treasure, with children bringing it to life, opens Thursday through Saturday, 7:30 to 8 p.m. “Bring a picnic basket,” Barbara said, and enjoy. Paul Doellinger, grandfa- ther of Henry and Olive, was there supporting his grand- children, watching from a chair on the grass. “Rob gives this a lot of time and energy,” he said. Falls City School District has ‘painless’ budget By Jolene Guzman The Itemizer-Observer FALLS CITY — Creating a budg- et for a school district wouldn’t ever be considered easy, but for this year’s plan, Falls City Superin- tendent Jack Thompson character- ized it as “painless.” That is in no small part due to Falls City School District officials having the opportunity to add staff and pro- grams, rather than cutting them. Falls City Elementary School is adding a teacher to separate the growing seventh-eighth grade classroom into single grades. The school’s reading specialist will be moving to full-time, which means another teacher will need to be hired to take over her third-fourth grade class. “The elementary school is going to look a little different next year,” Thompson said. Falls City High School will have a new face as well, a part-time ca- reers class and electives teacher. Thompson said having the addi- tional position will allow more class variety in the schedule. “We are really limited on elec- tives,” he said. The district and employee unions also agreed to a 6 percent boost to what the district is paying for staff insurance costs, the same increase as the last two years. Next year’s total budget is $7.3 million, but it includes $4 million proceeds from a facilities bond and state grant to build a new gym/multipurpose room at the el- ementary school. A vote in May failed to pass the bond by votes and the district lost the grant, but the Falls City School Board voted to put the bond on the ballot again in November. The bond amount will be the same as in the spring campaign, $1.30 per $1,000 of assessed value. “We have the same need,” Thompson said. “We were being honest the last time.” Thompson said the move is con- tingent on the state approving the district for the $2 million grant. Falls City was high on the list in the last grant cycle based on the need for a new facility, and Thompson said that situation hasn’t changed. “We are hopeful that we will get it again,” Thompson said. The district should know with- in a few weeks whether the state will approve its application. If not, the board will not proceed with the bond. In a departure from past prac- tice, the district passed a one-year budget instead of a two-year plan. Thompson said the schedule the district was on didn’t follow the bi- ennium budget the state uses, meaning the exact amount of funding for the second year is un- certain when the budget is adopt- ed. That, plus bringing in a new business manager compelled the district to switch to passing a one- year budget instead. Whether the change is perma- nent is yet to be decided, Thomp- son said.