Yesterday, March 5, 2020, was FCPS’ first drama adjudication in at least five years at Governor Thomas Johnson High School. The event was planned with the help of many of the drama teachers around Frederick County, including Urbana’s own, Mr. Ward. Along with two other high school drama teachers and three middle school teachers, Mr. Ward was a part of a committee on bringing back a drama festival adjudication. 

The event was set up so that each school in attendance had twenty minutes to perform an act with all their students in front of all the other schools; then in separate rooms students were able to perform a monologue or duo scene in front of several judges privately. The monologues and duo scenes were scored based on a rubric that considered their memorization, character, pacing, etc., while the main stage performances were not judged. 

When asked how he felt this first adjudication went, Mr. Ward said, “For a first time, you always learn new things and things to add but I was very proud of my kiddos.” Mr. Ward’s Advanced Acting Class performed a main stage piece from the show Snapshot, which included a moving piece taking place inside of a 9-1-1 control center on September 1st, 2001. All Urbana High students that performed for judges received superior scores.