Students involved in the theatre program at MHS attended the Illinois Theatre Festival at Illinois State University in early January. This is the first time students from MHS have attended this event that attracts about 4,000 students from around the state.

For the first time, students from Morton High School attended the Illinois Theatre Festival at Illinois State University in early January.

Hundreds of schools from around the state of Illinois attend the annual event where workshops are available to students and teachers and high schools present plays. An all-state production is also performed during the workshop weekend.

"It's good for them to see there are 4,000 other kids that have the same joy and passion," Liz Rebmann, a language arts teachers at�@MHS and play director, said. This workshop is one way Mrs.�@Rebmann is trying to increase interest in theatre at MHS. "I'm trying to transition the program to be more vibrant,�@contemporary and have the students learn to use new technology," she said.

There were 17 students that attended the workshop and they had hundreds of choices of classes to attend - anything from lighting techniques, make-up, dance and dialects.

"It really expanded by horizon as an actor. I would totally go back again," Megan Simpson, a junior, said. She attended a class to learn how to speak different dialects from around the world.

"You repeat whatever the teacher says. It's not quite like learning a foreign language, but kind of," Simpson said.

Sophomore Leah Roth took a dance class at the workshop. "I took the dance classes because I'm not a dancer so it was helpful. We learned�@a lot and had a blast while we were doing it," she said.

Mrs.�@Rebmann and the current students want to give younger students an opportunity to explore theatre, too. They will host a day camp on Saturday, Feb. 13 for children in grades 2-7. During that day, the�@MHS students will work with the younger students on various theatre techniques as well as prepare small group skits. Those individual skits will be performed that evening for parents and when performed together will become a play.

Heather Berger, a music teacher at MHS, also directs the spring musical at MHS. She also attended the Theatre Festival at ISU.