PROVIDENCEGlennZienowiczdoesnt just teach middle schoolershow to perform. He teaches them how to fly.
In play after play,Zienowicz, known asMr.Zin, has inspired studentsat Nathan Bishop Middle Schoolto reach deep into their adolescent souls andproduce college-level performances. Everything he touches the costumes, the sets, the lighting turns to magic,parentsand students say.
But this fall,Zienowiczwill be gone, his drama class, an elective, replaced by computer science, which the district says is in higher demand. The after-school drama club will continue, but parents and students say theater wont be the same without him.
The district promises that the beloved drama club will continueto flourish.
Nathan Bishop is fully committed to continuing their highly regarded after-school theater program, and has already begun reaching out to community partners to engage in this work next year,"said Providence Public Schools spokeswoman Audrey Lucas.
But parents andteachers think otherwise.
If the school gets rid of Glenn, they get rid of the club, said Donna Perrotta, a retired English teacher who collaborated withZienowicz. When you think of great schools, the cornerstone is always the arts.Hes the real deal.
Zienowicznever doesanything halfway. When he put on "Alice in Wonderland," he threw away the scripts(They were stupid)and wrote a new one. He enlisted a Brown University student to write the music, and then he staged it as Steampunk.
The kids were part of creating an original work, he said. Thats not your typical middle school production.
He produced "Antigone" on the front steps of Bishop, setting it in a fascist regime.
He put on a version of the fairy tale"The Emperors New Clothes," as Kabuki theater, complete with handmadekimonos.
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But nothing surpassed the school's performance of "Peter Pan." Zienowiczhired a professional company to teachsome ofthe adults and students how tofly, literally.
SylviaVileno, now a ClassicalHigh School student, played Peter Pan. Hours before opening night, she fell at a friend's house and ended up in the emergency room, getting 16stitchesinherforehead.She didnt get out of the ER until long after thelightswentup.
But when the curtains rose,Mr. Zinjumpedon stage and explained to the audience that his lead actorwas injured.Next, he invited members of the castto sing.The performance, truncated as it was,received an ovation.
The next night, Sylviawas flying from the rafters, looking every bit like a battle-scarred Peter Pan.
He cared a lot more than any other teacher Ive ever had, Sylvia said Wednesday. It was a huge deal in making me who I am today.
Sylvia's mother, DyanneVileno, saidZienowiczpushed his students and kept the bar high.
Thepayoff was worth it. Shy kids becamemore confident.Nerdy oneslearned to excel atsets orlighting.As demanding asZienowiczwas,there was a role for everyone, includingstudentswith special needs.
Steve Wilson jokingly blames Mr. Zinfor his own career in theater.Helearned the ropes inZienowiczsdrama club at Exeter-West GreenwichHigh School, and now hes the production manager of Theatre by the Sea, in South Kingstown.
He droveeverybody crazy, said 28-year-old Wilson,but he is an inspirational leader.I couldnt tell you why. A lot of educators coddle kids.There is no coddling in his class.
When I was in school,he worked with kidswith social issues whonormallydidnt want to be part of a big group. Afew of them ended upbeingthestarsof the show.He would find a way toconnect with them and ask them to do thingsthatnoonehadever asked of them.
I think losing him,you are losing theprogram, Wilson said. It will go back to being a run-of-the-mill school program.
Mr. Zin invited the community to become part of his drama clubs success. Parents dedicated weekends to making costumes and building sets.Experts from local theater companies gave master classes to his drama students.
Soon,word got outthat these plays wereoff-Broadway quality, as one parent put it. It wasnt long before the500-seattheater was packed.One of the schools crossing guards became a regular.
Everrett Hoag, a corporate events producer andtheater designteacher, donated $20,000worth of costumes, fabric,hangers, even a trash can,to thedramaclub. With that, the club turned a storage closet into a first-rate design center.
Zienowicztaught his students to believe in magic because thats what the theater is all about suspending disbelief.More importantly, he taught them to believe in themselves, to become part of something larger.
The feeling you get when you see a production, the singers and dancers are all of the same voice. Thats the magic,Hoagsaid. It goes beyond how many kids will actually enter the theater. This experience is a gateway to stand up and say to your boss, Why do we have to do it this way?
Zienowiczdoesnt know where he will land. If he cant find a position as an Englishteacher, the district will find a job for him somewhere.
On the drama club Facebook page,heposted his farewellin 15 languages.
With a full heart, I have been consolidated out ofNathanBishop.
Linda borg covers education for the Journal.
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Quiet on set: A Providence school is replacing beloved drama teacher with computer science - The Providence Journal
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