WCTV Community Classroom - Marie Sissle from Renaissance Academy

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - The show must go on! Even when you don’t have everything you need.

Marie Sissle, a musical theatre teacher at Renaissance Academy in Tallahassee, said her students don’t, but as always, with our monthly WCTV Community Classroom segment, you can help!

Ms. Sissle said she wants her kindergarten through eighth-grade students to learn stage presence, singing, and dancing, but they don’t even have a stage! She said she’s building the program from scratch.

With her classroom being the performance area, Sissle has provided the lights and parents volunteer to build the set. Parents and teachers have also put in money to pay for costumes and props.

Something as simple as pipe and drape can help the students feel like they’re in a real auditorium, performing on stage.

Sissle said theater makes her students come alive!

“they’ve been quiet and shy, but then you hear them sing, and you’re like, oh my, oh my. Their spirit just awakens. That’s what I’m here to do, awaken that passion and that purpose into them,” Sissle said.

Ms. Sissle was 19 when she took her first theater class at Tallahassee Community College and said it changed her life. She wants to do the same for others.

Her students have an upcoming production, “Once On This Island, Junior,” but again, they need some help. You can support her by clicking here.

Community Classroom airs every third Wednesday of the month.

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