The young actors pose for a photo after their summer play. Also pictured is Lauren Picerno with former CKRS parent and lead stage assistant, Mike Mazzola
I first caught the acting bug as a high school student at Sacred Heart in Vineland, and I am grateful for my drama teacher, who nurtured and encouraged that newly found passion. I majored in theater at Rowan University, completed my core education classes, and participated in study abroad at Middlesex University in London. My opportunities to teach acting and improvisation classes and direct plays blossomed after my first postgraduate job at Perkins Center in Moorestown. Teaching acting classes was the catalyst for me to become a full-time teacher. Acting classes build self-esteem and help children to express their emotions. For me, the most helpful crossover of my acting career in the classroom is improv. As the classroom leader, having flexibility and leaning into my third-grade student’s various learning styles and personalities are vital. What works one day – may not work the next. Treating our classroom rug like a stage, we work through our day creatively, and kids are natural improvisers. The improvisation classes foster imagination and confidence for students participating in the theater program at CKRS. Each spring, we put on a play featuring middle school students, and in the summer, a colleague and I collaborate to run a STEM-Acting camp in Morgan Hall. Having previously taught in diocesan and public schools, I feel privileged and honored to be a part of the CKRS school family. Please meet us for a school information session at 6PM on the second Wednesday, October through May.
Lauren Picerno is a Classroom Teacher and Drama Director at Christ the King School.