BUMBLEBEES & THE WALDRON END OF SCHOOL PLAY & GRADUATION

Picture this. A one room school-house, filled with almost every member of every family in the small Waldron Island community. Seventeen students in the school, from K-8. Two graduates this year.

It was Thursday night, June 12th, when the Big Event of the Year took place. Most Islanders would still be here past mid-night, with babies asleep on laps or on the floor, but this is a night
not-to-be-missed.

Following the Annual End of School play, "The Perilous Gard", presented by the Studentbody, with every child from kindergarten to 8th grade playing a part, the stage sets were removed, an upright piano rolled in, and music stands set up for a small ensemble of student musicians who proceeded to play "Pomp and Circumstance" while the two graduates marched in, having changed from their Old English play costumes into their dressy graduation clothes.

It is the custom that the Graduates take the leading roles in the End of School play, and this year was no exception. Naomi took the role of the Fair Maiden, and Zach played the Nobleman suffering a Magic Spell cast on him by the Fairy Queen. A complex play in every way--Old English sets, costumes and language, but capably delivered by this unlikely troupe of actors, most of them between 6 and 10 years old.

They pulled it off--Fair Maiden saves Handsome Nobleman--TWO hours of memorized advanced dialogue with few hitches--an impossible challenge, it would seem for this small school and such young kids. Had I been the teacher, I would have selected something like Snow White or Pinocchio. Familiar, simple, guaranteed acclaim. But then I remembered that last year they did MacBeth! On a outside stage. Full-on Scotland style, complete with kilts, castles, and the moving Birnham woods.

Optimistic and Ambitious? I guess so!! Still marveling at their performances a couple days later, I'm thinking that these kids, their teachers and parents are much like Bumblebees.You know the Scientists and Engineers at MIT have determined that due to their aerodynamic design and weight they can not fly. Fortunately for the Bumblebees, they have no knowledge of these findings, and so fly around with little or no regard to the reseach at MIT.

So there you have it--the Waldron Bumblebees. Doing the impossible.

I Love it when the Experts are proved Wrong!