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MAGNA — The middle school years can be rough, especially for a child with a disability. But on the stage at Magna's Brockbank Junior High, performing in a play has given one young woman a chance to showcase her abilities.
The power of the stage can be seen all over Kaylee Haueter's face. She's smiling broadly as she sings and dances her way through a production of "Fe Fi Fo Fum," the fall play at Brockbank. The 12-year-old seventh-grader has Down syndrome, but that doesn't limit her from performing center stage.
In fact, Kaylee is a focused actress telling us she's worked hard to "be good in the play." Brockbank Junior High teacher Diana Parker wrote "Fe Fi Fo Fum," and likes to pump her actors up for each performance. "I need you to know that I love you a bunch and I'm proud of you," Parker said during dress rehearsal.
Parker's been encouraging Kaylee to get involved in theater since she was in elementary school. "And she's been so excited to come to junior high and get to be in the play," said Parker.
The play features a perfect role for Kaylee: Little Miss Muffet. "She sings and she is so cute," said Kaylee. April Haueter is Kaylee's older sister and a graduate of Brockbank. April said, "We even call her Little Miss Muffet at my house, and she just loves it."
April is in high school now but came back to help direct her sister in this play. "I love working with my littler sister and I love watching Mrs. Parker work with her because there's just so much that she does to help her," said April.
Everyone in the cast and crew supports one another, and they've all been helping Kaylee reach her full potential as an actor and a person. Larene Haueter, Kaylee's mother, said, "Mrs. Parker encourages her to use her abilities because it's her abilities that really count, not those things that bring her down on her disabiltiies. It's the abilities that are the best part of her life."
Parker believes strongly that "the fine arts are so important in our schools because they teach you about life, about how to live life." Kaylee is learning how to express herself and how to make new friends.
Ninth-grader Austin Anderson plays the role of Waldo in the play. He said, "She's (Kaylee) so cute, she walks up and says, 'How are you doing?' and gives me a big hug."
"To be able to give them knuckles and give them fives and hugs and stuff and talk with them" has been great for her daughter, said Kaylee's mother, Larene Haueter.
"They are absolutely gorgeous kids that do what needs to be done to make everybody belong," Parker said of her theater arts students.
Anderson said, "You put your own little touch into it. You put your own person into it. And you can be whoever you want."
Kaylee strove to be the best Miss Muffet she could be during the October productions. Her mom was amazed by Kaylee's effort in the play. "To be able to stand on stage and feel that pride in doing her own work" was a brand new experience for her, her mom said.
And Kaylee had the last line in the play. "We are done," she cried with volume and excitement.
Kaylee's done taking her bows for this performance, but now that the acting bug has bitten, there will be more curtain calls in her future.
In the spring, Parker will stage a musical, and she's hoping Kaylee will try out for a part. After all, she's now a valued and talented member of the performing arts program at Brockbank.
