On April 26, Selma High’s very own Special Day Class (SDC) performed a play for an audience full of family, students, and staff. SDC is a class for students with extensive learning needs. These students played all the characters utilizing hard work and dedication, rehearsing for over two and a half months.
SDC held a show depicting the story of Julius Caesar and other Roman Generals as they faced the tyranny of power. SDC decided to incorporate today’s language and props to create a modern twist, allowing the material to be easy to understand for both the audience and the actors who took part in the play.
The purpose of this project was to show the students of SDC a new way of learning. Ms. Marrash, SDC’s education specialist, explained that the students are more visual learners.
“William Shakespeare is hard. I started to have them act out the parts and realized we should do a play,” said Marrash.
She decided to incorporate them in the lesson. She wrote the play using AI, basing the script, plot, and scenes off the book Julius Caesar written by Shakespeare adapted by TeachTown. Through this, the students were able to understand the material and learn a five-act play.
“Throughout rehearsal I saw them improve. Their improvement was tremendous, they grew more confident every day,” Marrash said fondly.
Her favorite part of the play was the opening parade, where all the students, tutors, and goats walked up to the stage. The set included plants and goats generously provided by FFA.
“We had goats simply because we could,” Marrash said laughing.
When asking Diego, the student who played Julius Caesar, what his favorite part was, he answered, “I liked dancing,” followed by, “I liked seeing the audience.”
Diego danced to the song I Won’t Back Down by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. As he danced, the audience swayed their arms in the air, following Diego’s lead to the beat of the music.
Gerjevin, the student who played Marc Anthony, said that his favorite part of the play was his fight scenes, “I like fighting,” he said enthusiastically.
The play involved two fight scenes. One being a pillow fight between Julius Caesar and other members of the play. The second fight was a fist fight between two SDC students and two of their tutors.
The tutors of SDC all took part in the creation of the play. Each taking a role of narrator, costume creator, production designer, refreshment providers, media designers, hair and makeup, or crew.
Ms. Marrash feels that this play was a huge success. However, she still believes that they could have improved on their communication to the audience.
“Next time, we will find ways to incorporate more signs and script,” Ms. Marrash said. nonetheless she is happy with the outcome,
“I am beyond satisfied with their performance. The audience responded well.”
This play taught her beloved students responsibility, independence, and confidence.
“There will be more plays in the future,” Ms. Marrash stated.
Look out for future shows, this was the first but definitely not the last performance we will see from SDC.
Ms. Marrash would like to say thank you to her paraeducators, Janette and Mary Ann, for all of their work and encouragement. She would also like to thank Mr. Lane, her tutors, the audience, and all the teachers that showed up with their class.
Lastly, Ms. Marrash has one final message to her students, staff, and Selma High, “It does not matter what your learning needs are. Everybody benefits from learning.”
SDC held a five-act play in front of a packed audience, performing with confidence and smiles. It was not just a performance, but a growing period. Each student smiled and waved as they exited the stage, saying goodbye to their supportive audience of family and friends.
