Ms. Hosey has been a theater instructor at John Hopkins Middle School for 22 years. She says this year has been a challenge because of COVID-19. About half of her students have face-to-face classes, while the others are online. 

“It’s a great challenge to keep online students engaged, especially when you’re a person who likes movement, like me,” she says. 

According to Ms. Hosey, the most important thing is to keep teaching students, and try to have fun. The challenge for online scholars is that acting feels different interacting through a computer screen. The challenge for face-to-face scholars is acting with a mask on. 

“It’s tough, when you talk your breath is beating back against your face,” Ms. Hosey says. “But we thought about it and figured out ways to be safe.”

For auditions, students were able to enter the auditorium individually, get a temperature check, then go to the stage alone and take off their mask. The space is big enough that they can safely perform without risking infection. After they audition, students put their mask back on and go back outside. 

Even though the situation is tough, Ms. Hosey says, “the show must go on!”