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COMMUNITY
THE CHANDLER ARIZONAN | WWW.CHANDLERNEWS.COM | OCTOBER 17, 2021
Places to volunteer wanted by high school students of any college application. But that’s not all it is. “It comes back tenfold,” said Kirstin Gregg, a counselor at Perry High School. “They get that first-hand experience in a field that they may want to pursue. For some, it confirms this is what they’re passionate about. For others, they learn this is not what they want to be doing.” One Perry High student who had a hard time volunteering because of the pandemic is senior Moira MacCatherin. She plans on being a nurse and wanted to volunteer to work at a hospital, just
BY KEN SAIN Arizonan Staff Writer
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here are some obvious aspects of the high school experience that students have missed out on during the pandemic – proms, hanging out with friends at school, even sitting in the same classrooms with their teachers. But there have been some less obvious aspects as well. “We are hearing from principals that students still are having a hard time going in, and being able to volunteer in spaces, because COVID is still in existence,” said Dr. Jennifer Fletcher, Chandler Unified School District’s executive director of accountability, assessment and research. For many high school students, community service is a vital part of their learning experience. It’s also a key part
see VOLUNTEER page 27
Perry High senior Moira MacCatherin is one of the lucky Chandler Unified students seeking a community service gig: she actually has found agencies that need volunteers. (Pablo Robles)
Murder most fun on Aprende school stage ARIZONAN NEWS STAFF
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group of Aprende Middle School students have murder on their minds these days. But don’t worry, it’s just the Jaguar Players rehearsing their lines for the presentation of a play titled “How to Host a Murder Mystery Dinner Party” a 7 p.m. Oct. 22-23 and at 2 p.m. Oct. 2324 at Aprende, 777 Desert Breeze Blvd., Chandler. The plot thickens as host Miss Penelope Chrysler-Michelin presents her proven, 15-step process to dinner guests at her seminar when an unexpected guest appears on the proverbial dark and stormy night, according to a summary by the author. And if you want to see how it ends, you might want to attend all four shows because each one will have a different climax. “I’ve always wanted to do a murder mystery with the Jaguar Players and this
Maly Plenn, 13, and Benjamin Shafer, 12, rehearse for the presentation of “How to Host a Murder Mystery Dinner Party” at Aprende Middle School in Chandler Oct. 23-24. (Pablo Robles)
script jumped out to me because it kind of pokes fun at the genre,” explained drama teacher Marisa Brady. “It also offered a lot of flexibility when it came to the cast and any COVID restrictions we might have.” Brady said the script comes with 14 assorted endings to pick from. “After we had a couple of rehearsals where the students developed their characters, I chose which characters would be the murderers,” she said. “It’s really fun rehearsing all 4 endings and we can’t wait for people to come to multiple performances to see the different endings.” “Everyone is having a great time with their characters and the scripts,” Brady added. “I have really encouraged them to bring their characters to life and lean in to the cheesiness that is a murder mystery. It’s very silly and we are embracing it.” This is also a momentous show for the
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