By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News

The second half of the school year brings some of the most fun for students. At Helper Middle School, this is no different, as the Rams prepare to perform their spring production of ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ in April. To discuss the preparation for the play and the HMS Drama class, students Jaici Mathiesen, Link Wilson and Maddy Callor, along with teacher Jill Ison joined the KOAL newsroom for this week’s Carbon School District Update.

Mathiesen took the mic first, opening by discussing the play”: We are performing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from the Chronicles of Narnia … I am playing the role of Susan.”

When asked what her favorite part of drama is, Mathiesen replied,” Probably meeting all the new people and making new friends in the drama department.”

The young actor also spoke about the most challenging part of theater for her,” Most of the time, it’s memorizing all the lines, especially when you have a big role.”

Wilson then entered the spotlight, providing the dates for the play’s performance,” It’s going to be April 24 through April 26, and we have two shows on that Saturday, one at 2 p.m. and one at 6 p.m.”

Wilson takes one of the starring roles in the production, playing Aslan, the King of the Beasts. He shared the sentiment of the challenge associated with line memorization, especially when it comes to monologues,” there’s quite a few monologues that I have.”

Before passing the mic, Wilson promoted the production, saying, ” It’s really fun. It’s serious, but it’s not. It’s fun, and it actually has a story to it.”

The last student to speak on the play was Callor, who opened by explaining where this production will take place. “It is at the Rio Theater on Helper Main Street.”

Filling the roles of the Elf and the Fox, Callor explained her favorite part of being in the drama class,” The fun that we all have in the after-school rehearsals. It’s just really fun.” She also explained what she finds most enjoyable about the source material,” it’s just like a really good play. I’ve seen the movie a thousand times, and it’s just really good.”

With the students saying their piece, Ison took the time to talk about the academic progress at the school,” At Helper Middle School, we have a heavy emphasis on helping the students improve and we’ve set some goals and are working very hard toward those goals. For about eight years or so, we’ve had the reading program in place where we’ve identified the students who have a need, and then we have put interventions in place to help the students. And we have incentivized those and really encouraged the kids to grow.” Ison continued,” And now we’re able to switch our focus toward math and we have a goal of 95% proficiency for all of our students on their four basic math facts. So, I’m really excited to work on those.”

Ison also spoke on a new addition to the school’s activity repertoire – the esports team. “It has been a blast. I show up in the morning, and there are kids lined up outside my door, waiting to come in to play games. And then once a week, we meet after school, and we compete against other schools online. And it has just been fun to have an outlet for these kids and watch their friendships grow and their kindness toward each other.”

Closing our conversation, Ison said,” I just want to say Helper Middle School is a fantastic place. We are a family as much as we are a school. And that’s been the thing that draws me to Helper as a teacher. And it’s the thing that I see draws students and parents to come there as well. We know the kids. We know what their strengths are and what their weaknesses are. And I’m grateful to be a part of that.”

To keep up with what’s happening at Helper Middle School, visit the school’s website or follow them on Facebook.