Ridge High Drama Students Bring Lessons To Elementary Schools

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Despite all the obstacles facing education this year, the show must go on. Ridge High School students found a unique way to make that happen by bringing books to life for elementary schoolers.

The Ridge Drama Club and the International Thespian Society’s Troupe 7742 — led by President Morgan Beatty, a junior — devised the "Literature to Life" program. The students use the set curriculum of different elementary schools, bringing different books and lessons to life through immersive theater.

Members of the Drama Club and ITS read, performed skits and facilitated an interactive forum for elementary students with books based on their current studies. The lessons included books new and old, with literature inclusive to every elementary grade, including Junie B. Jones, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and The Three Little Pigs.

The program is designed to help students learn how to participate in book conversations, encourage reading with an open mind and to promote a lifelong love of reading. Even after taping performances, the ITS Troupe donates these books to children in need.

Troupe 7742 hopes this program will serve as a resource for years to come and that students enjoy the performances.

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