Preparing students for whatever road they choose

My third-grade son comes home jazzed about his science lesson and says to me, “I’m going to be an ologist. I don’t know what type of ologist, but you see, dad, an ologist is a scientist and that’s what I want to be.” I am proud of him and his enthusiasm.

My son is in the STEM program at Machetanz Elementary, where lessons focus on hands-on inquiry and discovery activities. He is being primed for an excellent future at an early age. Even if his interests change, he is learning that the act of learning is through actual experience.

Now when my daughter comes home at 11 years old and says she wants to be an actress (which for the record, she hasn’t, but for the sake of this discussion, let her be any of the 11-year-olds who do), I as a parent might encourage her and secretly hope she goes for something more reliable to produce an income. At least, that’s what I think most parents would do. Then were she to say the same thing at 19 and heading off to college, or New York, or LA to make the “big time,” most parents would fret.

Not me.

I teach drama at Colony High School. I know that most of my most dedicated drama students won’t be heading off for their bachelor’s degrees in theatre, but for those who do, I don’t believe the job is so risky as it was before.

The aspiring actor will have challenges and probably won’t make as much money as a good “ologist,” but there is opportunity galore. The film industry produces movies that employ hundreds of people on a single production and brings in more money than the gross domestic product of some third-world countries. Professional live theatre exists in every state. Television, “extra” work, commercials, industrial training or informational videos, special events and even podcasting on the Internet are providing livable incomes to those who put forth the effort to stay busy. Many jobs in the industry are represented by their own unions and can offer insurance and retirement plans.

No, it’s not the easiest life, and not too many of them will end up as the next Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts or even on Broadway, but with the right attitude, a decent living can be made.

Our Valley schools are producing a lot of challenging shows and doing an excellent job at it. Colony Middle just finished its overwhelmingly successful production of “The Little Mermaid,” Palmer High regularly produces top-notch musicals with such shows as “Hello Dolly,” “Blood Brothers” and “Little Women,” and my own Colony High has produced mammoth productions such as “Les Miserables,” “West Side Story” and our current production, “Grease.” All of these shows were Broadway successes.

I consider our drama program at Colony a pre-professional program. We pick shows with intellectual and acting challenges, mostly Broadway titles. The object is more than to get them on stage, see what it feels like, move the next kid on. My goal is to prepare students to take whatever road they choose with confidence and skill. I model our production process after how a professional company might run, giving as much real hands-on experience as I can. These are skills that will benefit both the aspiring actress and the future “ologist” alike.

Brian Mead is an English and drama teacher at Colony High School with more than 200 plays under his belt. He is currently directing “Grease,” set to open Feb. 8.