Palmerston parent creates petition to save local theatre program

Theatre scene with a bright pink backdrop. Actors are dressed in costume performing Beauty and the Beast for Norwell Theatre.
A local theatre program that is to be cut from the curriculum has a supporter in Maggie Moore, who has created a petition to save it. Submitted photo.
Riley Gillespie-Wilson - CICW - FergusON | 13-06-2023
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A Palmerston mom is doing her best to save a local theatre program, creating a petition and awareness around the benefits of the class.

The course, that is supposedly to be removed from the curriculum, was taken last semester by Maggie Moore’s daughter at Norwell District Secondary School in Palmerston. Moore felt upset thinking future generations wouldn't get what she described as an amazing experience for her kid.

In a statement to The Grand at 101 the Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) stated, “if sufficient student interest through the course selection process occurs, the course could be offered again in future years."

Moore sent a written letter of her own and has a petition that has nearly 1,200 signatures between digital and hard copy, after learning in June of the plan to shut the program down this fall.

She reminds people that the kids, unlike the teachers and administration, have no governing body to lean on and help them preserve what they want.

"When the teachers need something, they have their union to back them up. They do their work-to-rule or their strike to get what they need. You've got administrators that have that same ability with their union," Moore said.

"What do the kids have to get them what they need?" Moore added.

She says Norwell Theatre is a “true jewel that shines in so many ways," so she isn't surprised by her petition's immediate success.

Moore also stated she thinks the course fits the board's official plan guidelines to a tee. Therefore she's baffled by the decision to shut it down.

"That program that was started in 2015 is doing all of those things, and good teachers are already doing those things. It makes me wonder- if this course is already doing exactly what they want their plan to be; the four year plan- why would they cut that?"

She says any further action she takes will hinge on board's next steps.

Listen to the CICW story below: