Sumner High School Collaboration

From left, 4theVille's Aaron Williams, alumnus Dr. Robert Salter, alumna Jacqueline Vanderford, alumnus Michael Blackshear, and St. Louis Shakespeare Festival's Tom Ridgely were some of the Ville leaders, artists, and alumni who penned a proposal to reimagine a new arts program for Sumner High School.

Excerpt:

Sumner High School gave the world Chuck Berry, Tina Turner, Arthur Ashe, Grace Bumbry, and Dick Gregory. This spring, it almost closed

Community leaders, alumni, and arts organizations drew up an ambitious proposal. Their aim: Keep the historic school's doors open.

“It was easy for us to say yes,” says Ron Himes, the founder and producing director of The Black Rep, about signing on to provide theater instruction to Sumner students. His theater has a long history of bringing educational programming to Saint Louis Public Schools, Sumner included. The arts, Himes says, engages students. It helps them learn how to express themselves and work as a group. Sometimes, when The Black Rep teaches at a school, staff members will try and pull out students whom they perceive will be distractions. “We say, ‘No, leave them in,’” Himes says. “We’ve found that in those instances, we’d turn the lightbulb on for them. Participating in theater games or exercises or acting in scenes would give them a spark. They would really turn themselves around…”

– Amanda Woytus, March 31, 2021