Viking Views

Some of my colleagues conned me into making a cameo appearance in our recent student musical production, Aladdin Jr. Principal Dave Csank, as well as teachers Gary Minadeo and Chuck Martinko, were fellow reluctant thespians.

Oh, OK. Not that reluctant. The truth is, each of us got a big kick out of our assignments to play bachelor princes. How much the audience enjoyed our performances, of course, may be another story altogether.
Standing backstage before the curtain was raised, I was struck again with a sense of déjà vu. I had a bit part in the student musical Carousel on the very same stage in 1969.

I also was an understudy for one of the lead roles and, back then, the understudies played the leads for one performance. My singing ability was and is such that, for the understudy performance, my character’s songs were cut.

There also was a scene in which I was to walk across the stage as I carried a girl over my shoulder. As my knees collapsed and I struggled to move, the poor young lady became my unwilling partner in an unplanned slapstick routine.

I bring all of this up because it reminded me how the high school experience involves so much more than simply what takes place in the classroom. Whether it is drama, athletics, Student Council or any of the other endless activities our students engage in after hours, extracurriculars bring value – not to mention a great deal of fun – that can’t be graded on a scale of A, B and C.

When our students move on to college – did I mention that once again this year 100 percent of our graduates will be attending college? – and their professional pursuits afterwards, the lessons they learned through their participation in sports and clubs will guide them and, in some cases, determine what they do and how they do it.

Having parented our four children through high school – three of them at the same time – my wife and I fully understand the demands of carpools, rushed dinners and schedule conflicts that is the stuff of family life when you have a student in high school.

But witnessing the effects of the Viking Experience, it is abundantly clear that it is all worth it.

Richard Osborne, ’69 is the president of Villa Angela-St. Joseph High School.