Carisa Corrow of Penacook is co-author of “126 Falsehoods We Believe About Education” and founder of Educating for Good.

My first experience at Franklin Opera House was at a summer performance of Aladdin Jr. in 2009. We had a five and three-year-old in tow. I remember it being warm. We sat in the balcony. They loved it.

The theater wasn’t shiny and new, but the production was high quality, the audience was friendly and most importantly the cast was made up of young people demonstrating their abilities to communicate, collaborate, create, and find success.

It was certainly a formative experience for my two oldest children, who could see themselves on a stage one day. Children’s theater, like Franklin does it, is a program my school district just doesn’t have. It’s inclusive, affordable and the productions are professional. Every child deserves a program like this from elementary school right through their entire school experience.

In third grade, my middle kid wanted to participate in theater, but the school didn’t have a program. So, we started one. I had no idea what I was doing, but with one of the teachers, we figured it out. Our first play was written by one of my high school students and was performed in less than 10 minutes, even though it took us weeks to prepare.

The next year was even better and then when my kid was in fifth grade, she starred as the Little Red Hen. My support that year was limited to doting mother as the teaching staff didn’t really need me after all. And, even though there was theater and a stage, the experience was still nothing like Franklin.

Honestly, I’m not sure the Franklin theater program which includes Franklin High School Players, Franklin Area Children’s Theater, and Franklin Footlight Theater, can be replicated anywhere else and preserve the same spirit. It’s produced with more love than money.

I’ve not been to another district where the superintendent or the school board chair showcase their limited acting experience to make cameos in a major production. I’ve never heard adults reflect on learning with students the way Franklin teachers who participate in theater do. This, despite being one of the lowest paying districts in the state.

I’ve not seen such connections across grade levels with high school students acting right alongside elementary kids. It’s like the one-room schoolhouse for theater.

And the Franklin Opera House has been a wonderful schoolhouse. Recently, there’s been a lot of talk about the Opera House and the possibility of a bond to repair it. Unfortunately, that bond includes a host of other city improvements which not everyone agrees with. I’m not a resident of Franklin, so I don’t have a horse in this race, except that in many ways we all do.

Franklin students, a small but mighty few, are a valuable part of our county and state. And by extension, so are the places they learn, including the Opera House.

The students who participate in Franklin theater, and there are many, demonstrate skills that cannot be measured on any standardized test. The spring production of The Wizard of Oz is a great example. Students from elementary through high school memorized lines, stage directions, multiple costume changes and prop tables. They collaborated, communicated and created.

I’m assuming they dealt with conflict both internal and interpersonal as any production entails. They failed along the way, overcame anxiety and persevered. It was a fantastic show and a great demonstration of community and learning.

I wondered what it might be like if we watched the show and above each actor was a holographic profile of their demographics. IEP, standardized test score, neurodivergent, poor, parent incarcerated, parent dead, unhoused, dyslexic, etc. How would that change how people view the school district and its value or the value of its teaching staff and its programs? Would they see that a standardized test score doesn’t hold a candle to performing on the stage?

This summer Franklin Area Children’s Theater is not operating out of the Opera House for safety reasons. Sure, the kids are still meeting, they’re practicing all the skills with high-quality dedicated staff. They will put on an excellent show, but it won’t be in a professional setting, with the lights, the stage, the ambiance the Opera House, the real world stage affords.

Lots of schools have auditoriums, but not Franklin. They have the Opera House. Franklin theater has for so many years told a beautiful story of learning and community that test scores cannot tell, if we would only look. I hope we can all recognize that.

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