Building Sets Builds Students’ Confidence

When Central Catholic senior Sophia Buchele decided to join the student set-building crew for the school’s annual fall play, she had no prior knowledge of working with tools or any building experience.  But thanks to the opportunity offered by CCHS, she now feels confident and prepared to build the upcoming spring musical set, as well as handle tools and fix things for herself in the future.

During the first semester, Sophia was taking the Drama I class with teacher and Drama Club moderator, Angela Mills.  She heard that the club was looking for students to build the set for their play, This Murder Was Staged, which was presented November 22 and 23 at the Historic Ohio Theatre.  Sophia thought it would be interesting, and she had friends at other schools who worked on sets who encouraged her to give it a try.

The crew worked two evenings a week at the new nearby shop that Central Catholic is renting for building and storing theatre sets.  Nearly all the set builders were girls with no building experience.  Junior Samantha Reagan was part of the show’s cast, and her stepfather, Tyler Smotherman, trains building apprentices as part of his job.  He volunteered to teach the student crew everything they needed to know to build the set.  Charity Givens, English teacher and academic assistant at Central Catholic, also helped the crew with set-building.

“We had to make the stage for the set by drilling posts into it, so I learned all about the drill, drill bits, types of screws, and the speed to use for the drill, and I had never even held a drill before,” Sophia explained.  “We also created our own canvases and painted them to use for the background to look like Victorian wallpaper and wainscoting.  Mr. Smotherman and Ms. Givens made us feel comfortable doing everything.”  

Although having the new theatre shop was convenient and helpful for the project, the crew had to scramble for tools to do their jobs.  They borrowed some tools and shared others, and Ms. Givens even used the tools on her Swiss Army knife for some of the projects.  The CCHS performing arts department is holding a fundraiser so they can purchase the necessary tools, painting materials, cleaning supplies, and organizational items for future projects.

“Having this dedicated space to build sets makes the process so much easier because we can store and reuse items and bring in our own students to do the work,” said Angela Mills.  “This was the first time we were able to build our set in this location, and it was very successful.  It increased student involvement, bringing out kids who really wanted to learn about using tools and doing construction work.  But we had to borrow a lot of tools and equipment to get the job done, and it made us realize how much more efficient we could be if we had our own items.”

Sophia plans to attend Bowling Green State University to major in cybersecurity, but she would like to continue using her new-found skills.  She plans to work on the spring musical set, and she is also interested in helping the theatre department in college if that is an option.  

“This has been a perfect opportunity to use my hands, which I enjoy doing, and learn new skills,” Sophia said.  “It was a fun experience, and I wish I could have done it sooner in my time at Central Catholic.  I would also like to get more of my friends involved and help more people learn these useful skills.”

Mrs. Mills feels that Sophia has learned enough to help some of the younger students get involved, and that she could serve as a crew leader instead of relying on a teacher to fill that role.  “The goal is for this to become a culture that basically runs itself in the future,” she said.  Having the proper tools to build the sets would go a long way toward making this happen.

To donate to the performing arts Stock the Shop fundraiser, please click the link HERE to make your donation.  We will also accept donations of gently used tools and supplies, but they must be in safe working condition.  Please contact Angela Mills at amills@centralcatholic.org if you have items to donate.