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8A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, March 30,2022
All in This Together: Little Tiger Theatre
Co. performs ‘High School Musical Jr.’
Photos by Erica Jones Dawson County News
This past weekend, students in the LittleTigerTheatre Co. put on a production of "High School Musical
Jr." at the Dawson County High School Performing Arts Center.
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
This past weekend,
some of Dawson
County’s most talented
young performers put on
a rendition of Disney’s
“High School Musical
Jr.” at the high school’s
performing arts center.
The group of students
who performed the show
are all part of the Little
Tiger Theatre Co. and
range in age from fourth
to eighth grade, repre
senting several schools in
the district including
Black’s Mill Elementary
School, Riverview
Elementary School,
Dawson County Middle
School and Dawson
County Junior High
School.
According to Jordan
LeFevre, co-director of
the Little Tiger Theatre
Co. and counselor at
Dawson County Middle
School, the students in
the show had been work
ing and practicing for
months in preparation for
opening night.
“We’ve been working
on it since September,”
LeFevre said. “We did
one show in between, the
Christmas show, and then
came back to this.”
As it got closer to the
production opening, the
students and director got
busier and busier, accord
ing to eighth grader Zach
Dietzel, who plays the
role of Ryan in the show.
“Every year around this
time it gets stressful, but
I’ve met a lot of really
cool people,” Deitzel
said. “It’s fun; I’m excit
ed for the play.”
Deitzel’s counterpart in
the show was Trinidy
Rarick, who is in sixth
grade at Dawson County
Middle School and plays
the role of Sharpay in the
musical. According to
Rarick, one of her favor
ite parts was getting to
know the other actors she
worked alongside.
“All the thespians are
really nice and really
good to work with; I love
working with them,”
Rarick said. “Working
with Zach as Ryan is very
fun also, we have built a
very good friendship.”
Many of the students in
the show have been in
other productions before
and have experience act
ing, dancing and singing.
One of these students is
Black’s Mill Elementary
School fifth grader Austin
Martin, who played the
role of Chad and said that
this was his seventh or
eighth production he’s
performed in.
“I’ve been in every play
since the beginning of
when they started perfor
mances and it’s crazy see
ing how far this produc
tion has come,” Martin
said. “I’m really excited.”
For the students that
have been in several pro
ductions, LeFevre said
that it’s rewarding to see
how far they’ve come.
“The more shows
they’re in the better they
get, so it really shows
when they get to middle
and junior high and
they’ve done a bunch of
shows with us,” LeFevre
said.
This weekend’s shows
were put on by the same
group of students, with
two different lead casts
that switched off from
show to show. According
to Becca Johnsen, co
director of the Little Tiger
Theatre Co. and third
grade teacher at Black’s
Mill Elementary School,
the students playing the
lead roles in one cast
played smaller roles in
the other cast, so all the
students were on stage in
each show.
“If a kid is a lead in one
cast they’re in the chorus
in the other and vice
versa, so even when
they’re not in their larger
role they’re still on the
stage and supporting the
others,” Johnsen said.
“High School Musical
Jr.” follows the story of
high school students Troy
and Gabriella, a basket
ball team captain and a
brainiac who decide to
audition for the high
school musical. Patterned
after the Disney Channel
original movie, the story
line explores what hap
pens when students break
outside of their box and
explore hobbies other
than what they’re already
known for.
Charlie McGriff, who
is in fourth grade at
Black’s Mill Elementary
School and played a
member of the “jock
ensemble” in the show,
said that she was excited
to be a part of such a big
show that she and the
other cast members have
put so much work into.
“I’m very excited,”
McGriff said. “This is
one of our really big
shows and it looks great
and everything has really
come together really
well.”
Riverview Elementary
School fourth grader
Blakeleigh Griffith, who
played a thespian in the
musical, echoed her co
actors’ excitement, saying
that she’s both excited
and a little nervous too.
“I’m kind of nervous,
but not really,” Griffith
said. “This is my third
play that I’m in.”
Having such a range of
ages from four different
schools all acting together
in one play is very benefi
cial to the young actors
because it allows them to
interact and form friend
ships with students they
wouldn’t usually spend
time around otherwise,
Johnsen said.
“When our fifth graders
go into the middle school,
they already know some
kids going into it and that
helps that transition,”
Johnsen said.
LeFevre added that giv
ing the students the oppor
tunity to participate in the
ater shows at such a young
age is also beneficial to
them being able to grow
as actors as they advance
to high school.
“Our goal is to really
increase arts awareness in
Dawson County Schools,
give kids an opportunity
to do theater before high
school and really just to
improve all of our pro
grams from band to cho
rus,” LeFevre said. “A lot
of these kids do other
activities like that because
they’ve done this with us
which is awesome.”
Two Dawsonville women dead after Forsyth wreck
Kelly Whitmire
DCN Regional Staff
Note: This story was updated on March 24 to
include fundraising information.
GoFundMes have been set up to assist the families
of two Dawsonville women who were killed in a head-
on wreck in north Forsyth County on Tuesday, March
22.
Now, people can donate toward funeral costs for the
late Jessica James, 36, and Sarah Decoteau, 38.
https://www. gofundme.com/f/jes sic a-j antes-
memoriar?utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2eJ3m
WlqgpbGO_dxiIycB3YHzZze2y-B51jV-OWF_8Ds6_
uXr9r0cmbCc
https://www.gofundme.com/f/love-support-for-sar-
ahs-family?sharetype=teams&member=18248845&pc
= f b _ c o
campmgmt_w&rcid = r01-164804741625-
7bda053eaab91 lec&utm_source=facebook&utm_
medium=social&utm_campaign=p_lico%2Bshare-she
et&fbclid=IwAR0yc2eMY sPr7 SNgRXeSNAc7CNf
BL-1 MNZv 1Y-VpfPY_nrYeviUBrj Nmekc
According to a news release from the Forsyth
County Sheriff’s Office, at about 8:25 a.m. on
Tuesday, deputies and the Forsyth County Fire
Department responded to a head-on collision between
a 2003 Honda Accord and a 2013 Hyundai Elantra at
the intersection of Bannister and Mockingbird roads.
The driver of the Honda, Jessica James, was pro
nounced dead at the scene, and the passenger in the
Hyundai, Sarah Decoteau, was pronounced dead after
being transported by Life Flight to an area hospital.
“A 2003 Honda Accord was traveling south on
Bannister Road while a 2013 Hyundai Elantra was
traveling northbound,” the release said. “For reasons
undetermined at this point, the Honda crossed into the
northbound lane striking the Hyundai.”
According to the release, the driver of the Hyundai
was transported to a local hospital “with serious, but
non-life-threatening injuries” and a 14-year-old pas
senger in the Honda was transported to a hospital with
non-life-threatening injuries.
“Investigators noted that the two victims of this
crash were not wearing their seatbelts and the two sur
vivors were,” the release said.
The wreck remains under investigation by the
FCSO’s Traffic Specialist Unit.
Tuesday’s crash is the second wreck with fatalities in
less than a week after a pedestrian was struck and
killed on Peachtree Parkway while assisting with
another wreck on Friday, March 18.
DCN’s Julia Fechter contributed to reporting about
fundraisers for the late women.
This story was originally published in the Forsyth
County News, a sister publication of the Dawson
County News.
Dawson County Humane Society
a no kill shelter
706-265-9160
Doggy Spotlight
Meet Happy! This sweet girl is in a need of a home of experienced dog
owners who can help bring her out of her shell and get her reacquainted
with the world.
Happy previously lived with middle aged children, and has been in
a home setting. However, shelter life seems to have come as quite the
shock to her and as of right now we only recommend mature adult
adopters for her who can read her body language and recognize when
she’s become over stimulated and needs a social break. Her previous
adopter had nothing negative to say about her, and she has excellent
potential to be an amazing fun loving dog, but she’s been scared and
traumatized by her rehoming experience and is going to take time to
come around. Potential adopters will need to work closely with kennel
staff to acclimate and prepare her to go home.
If you have the time to help put this gorgeous little onion back together one
piece at a time, come meet Happy today. She is a year old and weighs 45 pounds.
Happy
For more information contact the 706-265-9160 | 633 Martin Rd, Dawsonville
Dawson County Humane Society Adjacent to the Rock Creek Sports Complex
Visit our RESALE SHOP & BOUTIQUE All proceeds benefits
Wed. - Sat. 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. | 54 S. Lumpkin Campground Rd. the Humane bociety
ANH Collision
Specialists
706-216-0992
103 Industrial Park Road,
Dawsonville
Bradley M. Maple
CPA, PC
706-216-2362
2390 Thompson Rd • Ste 100
Dawsonville
Dawsonville
Veterinary
Hospital
706-265-8381
