Graduation: The Wizard of Oz

Preparation for graduation was not easy work. Here at my school, the graduating class is expected to present a play in English at their graduation. The foreign teacher, myself, is asked to find a play suitable for their level of understanding and comprehension. Basically, I was given the task to do research and find a play that was not too difficult for 6 year old Korean students who have only been learning English for only 2 years. "That was easy." Do you hear the sarcasm in my literary voice?! EXACTLY! Google has never been a better friend until then. After a couple of days of searching for the "perfect" play for my wonderful students, I couldn't help but to realize that not too many 'kiddie' plays have 10 characters who have an equal amount of lines.

You never know how picky parents can be until you send home with their child the script of the play their child will performing. I sent home the script to "The Wizard of Oz" on a Monday and almost everyday for two weeks I had to edit, rewrite, add and subtract characters from the play until the play was no longer "The Wizard of Oz." Ultimately, my class and I came up with a similar title to a now unfamiliar play, "Journey Through Oz! I have to say, that process was extremely frustrating but the end result was amazing. The kids rehearsed for entirely two months. During those 2 months of rehearsals and classes, there were times where I got upset with them and quite naturally they got upset with me. I must say, I was a little hard on them a little from time to time. However, they knew it was tough love.