En Sharon Academy: What is 'Interim'?
"Simply a time to blackout everything in life, muscle through the exhaustion, strive for the extra step and end with applause. That to me is interim." -Stephen Usher, "Sonny"
Interim is the title given to the two week period in the Sharon Academy high school where regular classes end and the school becomes the birthplace of a musical. Every single student and faculty member is involved. Seniors help choose the musical the year before, and all leads are given to seniors. Committees, from hair and makeup to band to promotions consist of and are led by students. The second week of interim, the school makes Chandler Music Hall in Randolph, Vermont their campus.
Echoes of Interim
By Maria Clara de Grieff
On the 2nd of December I came back to school after Interim and my students were no longer there. I suddenly had classrooms filled with Usnavies, Ninas, Vanessas, Bennies, Sonnies, Carlas, piragueros, dancers, some salsa music, some hip-hop, some restless echoes of a carnival refusing to leave. These echoes of Interim have nested at TSA and have inhabited each one of us touching and transforming our senses.
Echoes like pulsing rivers of an Interim with capital I that resonate through the yurts, through the gym, through the halls, through the classrooms, throughout each and every corner of the school. And unexpectedly we are electric, vibrant; we are En The Sharon Academy totally imbued with the echoes of En The Washington Heights.
Because at En The Sharon Academy we reinvented ourselves during Interim; with paciencia y fé, and a lot of persistence “we took a flight to a couple of weeks in the life of what it’s like En The Washington Heights.”
And suddenly the trite, worn out word “community” was born again; it came alive with beating hearts. Because we didn’t stand still merely observing. We participated, we held hands, we sang, we danced and we crossed the frontiers and geographies of language to pull out the veils of the soul, of the body, of the eyes; to open each and every door to experience cultural diversity. So we embraced it and we wore these cultural customs with pride.
Because in many ways we are also immigrants, nomads, citizens of our own inner worlds, traveling in the search to colonize unknown paths, territories and lands; to touch the other and discover our essence through the cultural touch.
During Interim we learned we can become our dreams. The echoes of Interim are a constant reminder of the infinite universe of possibilities we have to reinvent ourselves. These echoes remain pulsating and resonating as days go by. They are whispers of nostalgia.
The Yurt Alert, immersed in these currents, in these “In the Heights” effervescent moods, has prepared a special edition Echoes of Interim; a collage of instants, colors, rhythms, dancing words, whispers, quotes, poems, photographs - a carnival of memories.
Meanwhile the fresh and renewed community of En The Sharon Academy sigue andando el camino por toda tu vida respiraaaaa and as the song says no pare, sigue, sigue, because the show goes on as the best is yet to come and everyday life begins.
Echoes like pulsing rivers of an Interim with capital I that resonate through the yurts, through the gym, through the halls, through the classrooms, throughout each and every corner of the school. And unexpectedly we are electric, vibrant; we are En The Sharon Academy totally imbued with the echoes of En The Washington Heights.
Because at En The Sharon Academy we reinvented ourselves during Interim; with paciencia y fé, and a lot of persistence “we took a flight to a couple of weeks in the life of what it’s like En The Washington Heights.”
And suddenly the trite, worn out word “community” was born again; it came alive with beating hearts. Because we didn’t stand still merely observing. We participated, we held hands, we sang, we danced and we crossed the frontiers and geographies of language to pull out the veils of the soul, of the body, of the eyes; to open each and every door to experience cultural diversity. So we embraced it and we wore these cultural customs with pride.
Because in many ways we are also immigrants, nomads, citizens of our own inner worlds, traveling in the search to colonize unknown paths, territories and lands; to touch the other and discover our essence through the cultural touch.
During Interim we learned we can become our dreams. The echoes of Interim are a constant reminder of the infinite universe of possibilities we have to reinvent ourselves. These echoes remain pulsating and resonating as days go by. They are whispers of nostalgia.
The Yurt Alert, immersed in these currents, in these “In the Heights” effervescent moods, has prepared a special edition Echoes of Interim; a collage of instants, colors, rhythms, dancing words, whispers, quotes, poems, photographs - a carnival of memories.
Meanwhile the fresh and renewed community of En The Sharon Academy sigue andando el camino por toda tu vida respiraaaaa and as the song says no pare, sigue, sigue, because the show goes on as the best is yet to come and everyday life begins.
Senior's Goals for Interim
Every year, shortly after Interim is over, the junior class begins to meet to discuss next year's interim. Before any musicals are even mentioned, the class outlines goals. The list of goals this year's class had is as follows:
- Quality
- Reward past efforts
- Reward effort
- Don't focus on seniors
- Seniors first priority for leads
- Smaller choruses with "their" number
- Deliberately appreciate
- Fun
- Take on a challenge
Charlie's Poem
By Charlie McMeekin, director of In the Heights
Sitting at home today, a time just to pause
And give heartfelt thanksgiving before Santa Claus
Invades the airwaves with promises of bought things.
But today, my heart rejoices in some of the taught things
That come from a life spent in the classroom.
No matter how much I learn, my brain still has room
To be challenged by new delights, like those that I found with "In the Heights".
Had it not happened, what would I have missed?
Maria Clara's mole would be high on the list,
And the visit from Kurt, thanks to Mary Newman,
His energy was inspiring and near superhuman.
And Stephanie and Christa, who took on the vocals
Although at times they felt somewhat like yokels.
And Rob in the pit, and Steve there at breakdown,
And Kate and Louise helping kids who just felt down,
And Cynthia reliably there in the hall
Trying to keep track of our kids one and all.
Keeping track of all of the good things that occurred
Is the hard thing, in fact, and it's actually absurd
To think that I could, and that's not the reason
We're asked to give thanks this holiday season.
But it's good just to know how huge is the roster
Of adults who worked in public and private to foster
The growth that we saw in our interim mission.
And so as I end up this rhyme, I am wishin'
That you'd take a minute and think of some gift
You saw in a student, that gave you a lift.
It's a simple exercise, I admit but it might
Remind you that each day we can live "In The Heights"!
And give heartfelt thanksgiving before Santa Claus
Invades the airwaves with promises of bought things.
But today, my heart rejoices in some of the taught things
That come from a life spent in the classroom.
No matter how much I learn, my brain still has room
To be challenged by new delights, like those that I found with "In the Heights".
Had it not happened, what would I have missed?
Maria Clara's mole would be high on the list,
And the visit from Kurt, thanks to Mary Newman,
His energy was inspiring and near superhuman.
And Stephanie and Christa, who took on the vocals
Although at times they felt somewhat like yokels.
And Rob in the pit, and Steve there at breakdown,
And Kate and Louise helping kids who just felt down,
And Cynthia reliably there in the hall
Trying to keep track of our kids one and all.
Keeping track of all of the good things that occurred
Is the hard thing, in fact, and it's actually absurd
To think that I could, and that's not the reason
We're asked to give thanks this holiday season.
But it's good just to know how huge is the roster
Of adults who worked in public and private to foster
The growth that we saw in our interim mission.
And so as I end up this rhyme, I am wishin'
That you'd take a minute and think of some gift
You saw in a student, that gave you a lift.
It's a simple exercise, I admit but it might
Remind you that each day we can live "In The Heights"!
Interim Timeline
Gathered by Alex Binzen
1996: School opens, plays begin.
1998: Huck Finn
1999: Oliver
2000: West Side Story- Michael begins working as assistant head of school, taught humanities. School was in the present day middle school building with over 100 kids. Play is moved up to Chandler music hall from Seven Stars.
2001: Gump
2002: Fame
2003: Footloose
2004: O Brother
2005: Chicago - Charlie begins working in TSA , takes over as play director from Kimberly Hackett, and starts interim as we know it.
2006: Jesus Christ Superstar - Michael becomes head of school
2007: Wizard of Oz
2008: Guys and Dolls
2009: Back to the 80’s
2010: Drood
2011: The Boyfriend
2012: South Pacific- Spike gets hired fully in 2012.
2013: In The Heights- Most professional production yet, behind the scenes stuff has come to a culmination of awesome.
1998: Huck Finn
1999: Oliver
2000: West Side Story- Michael begins working as assistant head of school, taught humanities. School was in the present day middle school building with over 100 kids. Play is moved up to Chandler music hall from Seven Stars.
2001: Gump
2002: Fame
2003: Footloose
2004: O Brother
2005: Chicago - Charlie begins working in TSA , takes over as play director from Kimberly Hackett, and starts interim as we know it.
2006: Jesus Christ Superstar - Michael becomes head of school
2007: Wizard of Oz
2008: Guys and Dolls
2009: Back to the 80’s
2010: Drood
2011: The Boyfriend
2012: South Pacific- Spike gets hired fully in 2012.
2013: In The Heights- Most professional production yet, behind the scenes stuff has come to a culmination of awesome.