After State Superintendent Mo Green’s first meeting of the N.C. State Board of Education on Jan. 8, 2025, he and the board attended a performance of “Surge,” hosted by Arts NC State.
“Surge” is an original theatre production by the Watauga High School Playmakers that was written in the 28 days after Hurricane Helene. Sarah Miller, a theatre arts educator and co-director of the play, has said, “It is a love letter to our community.”
Watauga County Schools Superintendent Dr. Leslie Alexander, School Board Chair Dr. Gary Childers, and Watauga High School Principal Scott Strickler were all in Raleigh to support their students.
Rupen Fofaria, director of operations and policy for the N.C. State Board of Education, welcomed the state leaders and others in the audience, noting that “studies consistently show that students involved in the arts are more likely to attend school, are more engaged in their schools, perform better academically, and are more likely to graduate.”
Fofaria said in the performance of “Surge” you can see “a group of students who confronted personal challenge and emotional upheaval and poured it into their art to create an award-winning original musical that fosters understanding, identification, and emotional connection.”
“Between the research, the writing, and the collaboration, hopefully we’ve been able to show you that arts are not separate from education but rather an essential part of a child’s experience of education,” said Rowan Tait, a student-actor in the play. “Arts are able to bring together the topics that we learn in classes right down the hall. Arts give us authentic experiences that breathe life into the facts and figures that we learn in other disciplines. Some might think that electives are used to fill schedules, but for me, this department, the arts, and the artists I choose to surround myself with are what take that thread from other parts of my life and knit the final story.” He said performing “Surge” has been part of the healing process for the students.
Student-Actor Clara Lappen talked with the state leaders about the role teachers and schools played in recovery after the storm. She said, “When Helene hit, Boone systems were overwhelmed and our communication was disconnected, but in my experience, the people who worked the hardest to get us reconnected were our teachers. Within a week, Watauga County schools had reached out to every family in the system and confirmed their safety. Every family. They contacted my family within two days. Do you know why the mayor in ‘Surge’ cites the local high school as being a distribution center? Because that is what happened in Boone. Public schools became our town support systems, and teachers, countywide, stepped in and said, we will help. ‘Surge’ could not have been put together without the efforts of Ms. Miller and Mr. Walker, but they are far from our only heroes…. Time and time again, our teachers have shown that we students are their priority, but for them to be able to support us, they need support as well. Teachers matter, schools matter, and the work you do to support them matters too.”
“You are a living example of the support that we need for our students and what is so good about our students,” said Heather Smith, the 2024 Burroughs Wellcome Fund North Carolina Teacher of the Year, to the playmakers. “I am so excited that you can be a voice for the students of Western North Carolina.”
The playmakers are headed to Baltimore in March to present “Surge,” after winning the right to represent North Carolina at the Southeastern Theatre Conference.
EdNC is working on a short documentary about “Surge” and the playmakers.
