E.L. Students Volunteer in Prop Room

Community Little Theatre (CLT) was recently the recipient of some much needed help in the form of student volunteers from Edward Little High School (E.L.H.S.). Seven of the high school’s juniors accompanied by their Mentor Teacher, Gail Carville, visited CLT to help organize the theatre’s properties room and help to get the ball rolling on a much needed digital catalogue of props.

When E.L.H.S. proposed a Community Service Day for the school, CLT Properties Chair, Heidi McCurdy jumped at the opportunity. “I’m a librarian at Edward Little and I’ve been thinking for a long time about how I really needed some help with sorting through all our props at the theatre, so when I heard about a community service day, I immediately reached out to Mrs. Carville.”

CLT is currently in its 75th season, meaning 75 years’ worth of collecting costumes, props and a lot of dust. “It was so wonderful to finally be able to pull things out of the prop room, clean and put them back in a more organized manner. Some of these items have not been moved for a very, very long time. We didn’t get to everything, but it’s the beginning of a more organized, efficient prop room,” McCurdy said. She also emphasized the need for a digital database and said that while the students were moving things they also captured photographs of each prop, hopefully allowing the theatre the opportunity to rent out more of their props in the future.

Edward Little’s mentor groups meet on a weekly basis, starting their freshmen year. The group stays together with the same students and mentor all throughout their 4 years at E.L.H.S. Teacher Mentors are then able to use this time to check in with their students about grades, goal setting, character building, the college application process and aspirations after high school.

McCurdy said some of the students have already come to her to say that they’d like volunteer again in the future and help her finish the project they started. For more information on volunteer opportunities, visit CLT’s website at www.laclt.com or contact them at (207) 783-0958 or info@laclt.com. CLT is a local, non-profit organization.