A new summer project for high school theater students as well as their future counterparts from the elementary and junior high was a theater camp that culminated in a community production of The Wizard of Oz. Students from kindergarten through sixth grade learned all about various aspects of the theater all week and then used what they learned to entertain their audience on Friday evening.

    “I think it went great,” director Jill Henson said. “The kids had a lot of energy and they were willing to act silly on stage. We had fun. “

    Most of the students who attended want to be a part of the theater group when they get to high school; some, like Mackenzie Morales, wants to make it her career.

    “I was one of the leads in the Wizard of Oz Production, and being in it was good practice for broadway when I’m older, Morales said. “I feel like I built up my confidence.”

    Learning and practicing was just one of the goals for the high school group in hosting the camp; teaching the kids to learn theater was another.

    “Hopefully they learned to be a little more confident onstage than they were at the beginning of camp,” Henson said. “Even if that’s all they learned, it was a success.”