Mistaken identities, murder most foul, a masquerade ball and a coven of witches; Thursday, Feb. 15 was not the typical evening at Welches Middle School. That night, seventh and eighth grade students offered performances of William Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Macbeth” as the culmination of a two-week artist in residence program that was part of the Right Brain Initiative.

“I was so proud of them,” said Kendra Payne, the school’s principal. “It was
just really amazing to see them take it so seriously and be so excited about it
and work so hard.”

For the program, which utilizes arts integration to help students link learning
from one area to others, a guest artist helped seventh graders work on “Much
Ado About Nothing,” a comedy about love and mistaken identity, and eighth
graders with “Macbeth,” a tragedy about the rise of Macbeth to become the
King of Scotland before his misdeeds lead to his fall.

Eighth grader Inanna Vognild had some acting experience from a summer
camp she went to a couple years ago, but faced the challenge of playing both
MacDuff and Lady Macbeth in the tragedy.

“I learned that it’s a lot harder than it actually seems, but it can pay off in the
end, because it’s fun putting on the performance,” she said, noting that she
had some familiarity with the play prior to working on it. “I was a bit nervous
that I might end up missing a cue or something, but after the play a lot of
people came up and said I did a good job.”

Seventh grader Sydney Brewster played Beatrice in “Much Ado About
Nothing,” her first theatrical endeavor, and faced the traditional butterflies
when the performance date arrived.

“I was nervous at first, then I started to get into it more and it became more
comfortable,” Brewster said.

Abel Castaneda played a variety of roles in the seventh-grade show, including
Benedict, Leonato and Claudio, but was ready for the show thanks to
practicing with his sister at home.

“I was pretty nervous and I think I did pretty good,” he said.
This was the third full year that the school participated in the Right Brain
Initiative, and Payne noted this year’s program helped give students a way to
show a different side of themselves. She added that some kids who have

shown signs of disengagement and apathy in the classroom were able to come
out of their shell during their theatrical studies.

“That’s what we always want, to see the kids get engaged and excited about
learning,” Payne said, adding that this was the first time that performing arts
has been done at the Welches Schools “in a long time.”

The middle school will have a unit on Shakespeare later this year, and Payne
believes the performances will help students get a jump start and be eager
learners when it arrives.

“I think they’re going to be much more engaged with it and have a deeper
understanding of it because of the work they’re doing now,” she said, adding
that the elementary students also worked on Shakespeare plays but did not
have a final performance.

Parents of the seventh and eighth graders came away impressed.

“I thought the kids looked like they were having a lot of fun doing it,” said
Hans Vognild, Inanna’s father, adding that the evening had a positive feeling
from the community support. “I think they did a really good job, especially
considering they only had two weeks to prepare.”

“I think they did amazing and a lot of them tried to buy into their characters,”
said Lidia Vento, Castaneda’s mother. “I was very proud of them.”