This month, for the first time since the mid-1980s, Sandy High’s drama
program will not participate in an acting competition with the Mount Hood
Conference.

The competition, along with a one-act play festival and a theater exploration
day, were staples of the drama program for decades, before the school
switched from a 6A classification, and inclusion in the MHC, to 5A classification
(based on the school’s size), and inclusion in the Northwest Oregon
Conference a couple years ago.

Drama teacher and director Chris Harris described the loss as “huge” for his
students.

“They basically lost all of their interaction with the other schools,” he said.
“They lost all of their competitive events. I don’t have a carrot to hang in front
of the kids other than their own productions.”

Last year, an exception was made by the MHC and students were allowed to
participate in the acting competition despite a “big political mess,” according
to Harris. This year, despite support from the other drama teachers in the
conference, no exception was made.

“All the other drama teachers put up a good battle for us,” Harris said. “We
even offered to continue to pay our expenses. But we weren’t allowed to.”

Sandy’s acting students, who have typically performed very well in the
competitions, noted what a loss it is for the program.

“It meant a lot to me,” said junior thespian David Lehr, 16, who performed in
the acting competition his sophomore year. “It was really nice to talk with
people and see other people’s material. It was a really good growing
experience for me; none of us here have that opportunity any more.”

Searching for replacements
Despite not being included in the MHC events, Harris has tried to find other
ways to give his students similar experiences. In the fall of 2010, Harris took
his students to see a production of “Sunset Boulevard” at Portland Center
Stage, although the students had to cover the associated costs.

He also took the young actors to a regional acting competition run by the
International Thespians Society last year.

But he noted that the cost is expensive (a $12 fee per event for each
student), while the rules are more prohibitive, including three minutes to
perform two contrasting monologues (the MHC competition provided five
minutes for the same) and limits on the total number of performers.

“It’s upsetting to see that Drama II (the Sandy High School class) students
who want to go to competitions and want to get that experience under their
belt to make them better, can’t,” said senior Jesta Knowles, 17, referring to
the 17 students in the class, all of whom cannot perform at the competition.
Harris noted that the NWOC has also started a one-act festival, although it is
in the early stages of development.

“It’s a starting point,” Harris said. “We are trying to develop that, the new
teachers in the new league. There is no interest in creating any of the other
events.

“For us, it was never about winning,” he added. “Obviously we loved it when
we did, but the thing about competition when it comes to drama, you want
your kids to compete against tough competition because it helps them get
better. That’s how we always approached competition.”

Julia Monteith, Communications Director for the Oregon Trail School District,
added that Sandy High School would be willing to host an acting competition,