By GRAYSON LEE CAVALIERE
Rutherford County Schools
Sydney Beightol is a director for the drama club at Siegel Middle School and an ELA teacher.
Beightol has a history in performing and leads almost 120 students in theater productions every year.
In this Q&A, Beightol talks about how big the drama club has grown at Siegel Middle and the incredible professionalism students have shown in putting on their most recent production: A Midsommer Night’s Dream:
Q: Tell me about your background and how you got started:
A: My name is Sydney Beightol. I’ve been here at Siegel for six years. Before that I did an internship teaching at Bearden High School in Knoxville. I’m from the Knoxville area, so I was a student director when I was a senior in high school. I was involved in the drama program at the high school level and the middle school level. So, it was not very surprising when they immediately recruited me to be part of the drama program here at Siegel. I’ve been teaching ELA the whole time.
Q: Is there an actual drama class at Siegel?
A: There's not! We would like to have one eventually. We do all our drama stuff after school. I teach ELA and the other director Ms. Teressa Parker teaches social studies. We have about 120 students who participate. So, for the show we just finished, we just did A Midsommer Night’s Dream, we had 113. We have that much interest.
Q: Tell me about your productions
A: Generally speaking, we do a musical in the fall, and we do a play in the spring. The 2018-19 year was the first time we did a play in the spring and that’s when we added our tech crew. It’s huge. We love it because the students do it. It’s their show, so we give them directions. But a lot of what happens during the show, I’m just there to keep an eye on things. I’m backstage – that's where I’m stationed, and I just make sure things are running the way they should. I usually check that the set pieces and the props are where they’re supposed to be. The kids are doing like 98.5% of all of it.
Q: So, do you consider yourself an English teacher first or a Drama director first?
A: I feel more like an English teacher during the day, but when 3 o’clock hits I’m in drama mode. Directors are here usually four days a week after school. So, we’ve got tech on Tuesdays and then three days of rehearsals. Sometimes on a Saturday morning. It’s a lot of work for us.
Q: Why do you like it?
A: I think there is something magical about it. I don’t know if it’s the kid stepping into role and becoming that character, or that I can ask a kid to take a $200 microphone and go put it on another kid – they just do it perfectly every time. There's just something about that. It'll fill you up. We just did Shakespeare, and most of them had maybe read a little bit of Shakespeare. But hearing 13-year-olds recite Shakespeare monologues was crazy. I’m just sitting here listening, in the audience, and I was just blown away. Seeing the talent, they have at 11, 12 and 13 is something so impressive. And our drama kids, our community here, they’re great kids.
Q: Tell me about the students who participate:
A: They’re funny as all get out. It’s just a good group of kids to be involved with. Drama gives them a place. We have these kids that come from all walks of life. We have students who go and do shows in the community so they kind of have that place elsewhere too. But almost everyone starts with us, and they feel they have a sense of belonging. Drama gave them a friend group and a place where they can be themselves, where they can belong. We tell kids it’s their show, but they don’t want that show to flop. They want it to be good. They want their friends to succeed and the people around them to do well. It gives them a lot of buy in.
Q: What is unique about the drama program at Siegel Middle?
A: I think we have a huge program. We are the biggest club at our school. Bigger than the football team. I think that it's something about the level of production we do. It’s fairly unique and it’s a combination of a lot of things. I know some schools have tech crew, but I don’t know if kids are running the entire program like here. The way we operate with kids taking over and being in charge of the show – it's really hard for some adults to let go of that. So, I think that is kind of the big thing that sets us apart.