For years now the variety show, formally known as Cabaret, has been an annual event at Peet Junior High School. This show consists of many talents from singing to magic to poetry.
While the show is lively and something that many students look forward to, every year is bittersweet to the freshman class. This year’s show was made of mostly freshman students, meaning that the majority of students were dealing with the fact that last weekend was their last performance.
The students had a lot to say about their experience with this show. For example, Kaylee Rundel said that “It has given me more opportunities to make new friends and feel more involved in the school.”
Rundel is not the only one who feels this way. Hannah Batterson said, “It really helped me feel like I was established in the school. People recognized who I was, what I could do like I wasn’t just that girl in the background.”
On the other hand, this year is more bitter than sweet for some students. An example of this is Nate Rosckes, who joined variety show this year making it his first and last time participating. Rosckes said it “made me really think about what I missed out on, what I could have done.”
But the students aren’t the only ones who are dealing with the idea of this year’s show being their last. Last weekend’s performance was the last for music teacher Samantha Eilers who has been a director of this show for five years.
Eilers is moving to Texas after the school year ends, saddening many of her students who have grown with her. Eilers said that “It was a very bittersweet weekend and there were a lot of tears.”
Despite the tears, Eilers said that this show has helped her career-wise quite a bit. “I’ve grown so much because of this show just pushing me to be more organized, in more control of a situation. Obviously the variety show attracts a lot of students. We have big numbers involved in this show, so again helping me on skills like classroom management, managing the crowd, making sure there are clear expectations for everyone involved, so on the technical side it definitely helped me with skills for my career and for moving forward as a teacher.”
The “technical side” is not the only thing Eilers appreciated. Eilers said that her favorite part of this experience is “to be able to give you guys the opportunity to be vulnerable and expressive and creative and to really be your true selves.”
Even though this is her last year directing, Eilers still feels “really lucky that I got that opportunity to do that.”
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