Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Susie Pickering
Oak Lane Day School
137 Stenton Avenue, Blue Bell, PA 19422
Phone: 610-825-1055
Fax: 610-825-9288
Email: spickering@oaklanedayschool.org

Readers' Theater at Oak Lane Day School

What do you get when you combine 13 energetic second and third graders, exciting stories of adventure and fantasy, shadow puppets and cool special effects, and the exotic sounds of gongs, xylophones and rain sticks? Oak Lane Day School's Readers' Theater! Each year the Second/Third grade at Oak Lane expands one social studies unit to incorporate the use of drama, dance, music, student-made props and costumes, and narrative storytelling to thoroughly explore the subject under study. The Readers' Theater this year revolved around folk tales of the Chinese culture, and involved the talents and hard work of not only the children but their homeroom teacher, Oak Lane's music teacher, and a guest dance teacher as well.

“Broadway, here we come!” Oak Lane's Second/Third grade teacher Allen Garner waxes enthusiastic about this year's performance. “The children had a great time preparing. With this project they have all kinds of opportunities to shine as musicians, puppeteers, actors and narrative storytellers.”

Cooperation and teamwork are the keystones of this production. There is a lot of work to do and, as acting parts are learned and sets created, the students learn the importance of working together in an efficient and harmonious way. It becomes clear very quickly how difficult it is to pull all the necessary parts together if there is squabbling in the ranks. As the work progresses and the children learn their individual parts, something wonderful happens. Marlis Kraft-Zemel, music teacher, has observed over the years that “there is always a magical moment a week or so before the performance when the children come to an understanding and awareness of how all the pieces of the story and its telling will come together.” A gratifying moment indeed, when the students play their parts with vigor and confidence as they did this year before their peers and families.

Readers' Theater is a prime example of how Oak Lane Day School strives to elicit and encourage the innate interests and talents of its students. The school's curriculum is driven by the ambition of having students graduate with the ability to express themselves eloquently in whatever manner suits them best.

Oak Lane Day School Information

An independent elementary school, founded in 1916 and located in Blue Bell, Oak Lane Day School serves a diverse population of boys and girls. Oak Lane honors each child's unique individuality while fostering intellectual, creative, academic, and personal growth within a diverse community of active, engaged learners. Small class sizes and an atmosphere that encourages children to develop their academic and social skills are priorities at Oak Lane, where learning is a meaningful and joyous pursuit. Oak Lane's country-like property of 30 acres along Butler Pike and Stenton Avenue boasts a stream, pond, woods, meadows, and specimen trees as well as playing fields and playgrounds.

Oak Lane Day School is accredited by the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS), and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS).