Laura's School Program

Under the Sea

As the performing arts coordinator at school, one of Laura’s jobs is to put on the lower school program each year. That takes a lot of work, but it always turns out well in the end. She comes up with the story, the songs, the props, and everything else involved.

This year was the first year that all of the lower school students were together on one campus. That gave Laura 150 students to work with, which was a big challenge. But it all went really well.

This year, Laura adapted the book Shine, which is about a starfish who wanted to be a star in the sky but finds that life in the ocean is a good place to shine, too. The different ocean animals were portrayed by large puppets made of paper and cardboard, and most of them were in several sections taking multiple students to move them around, such as the whale swimming through the scene in the photo above.

Some of the students had speaking parts in telling the story, some played musical instruments at transition points, and they all sang and danced. It all went really well, and I was a proud husband.

At the end of the story, all of the students came together for songs at the end. For one of the songs, Laura had even written new words to an existing song to fit the theme of the program. As you can see, she puts quite a bit of work into these programs!

Behind the Scenes

Needless to say, we were all a little relieved when it was over. Jaylin and I had spent a good bit of time helping to make the different sea creatures, but we did not spend nearly as much time on it as Laura had put into it.

One of our favorite sea creatures was the angler fish. She made it with a moveable mouth so that it could talk. It was pretty funny. So we had to get a photo with it after the program and before we got rid of everything. This was outside, because the lighting was much better there.

The other teachers and administrators were all supportive of Laura during the whole process, and they gathered for a group photo when it was over. I think they were relieved, too.

After a short break, I am sure that Laura will be starting to think about what to do for next year’s program, too. I am sure it will be good.

Bible Verse

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. - Colossians 3:23-24