Parent Volunteers Are Crucial Component To Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival

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Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival has, for more than three decades, given Severna Park teens a chance to shine onstage.

What fans don’t see, though, is that for every 15 seconds of fame under the lights, there are parent volunteers focused on all the small things that help make the show at the high school tick.

Shannon Powell and Jessica Haynie are two such parents.

“I get a lot of miles in,” said Powell, a volunteer of four years and member of the Falcon Drama Booster Board.

Powell coordinates the team of parent volunteers and spends most rehearsals and shows in motion, checking to make sure all the bases are covered — hospitality, snacks, ushers and costumes to name a few.

“So many things have to happen for it to actually come together,” Powell said.

Haynie got her start six years ago as a “tech mom,” feeding the students who comprise the technical crew and spending full days, starting in January, working on set builds. She continues to help out on the technical side, supervising and pitching in wherever is needed.

Both women explain that they are but two of a cadre of volunteers who commit dozens of hours to the production and readily point out that while Rock ‘N’ Roll Revival does take a village of volunteers to produce, it’s ultimately the students running the show.

“The kids, with supervision and guidance, build everything you see,” said Haynie, who has continued to pitch in even as her own children have graduated. “It’s not adults doing it. I’m there ironing or doing hot glue, but they are designing, managing all the sound and lights. It’s all pretty amazing.”

Her favorite Rock ‘N’ Roll project wasn’t one with which she helped, rather it was something created by her daughter. She fondly refers to it as “chicken.”

“She used chicken wire to create this dragon that they got to breathe smoke,” Haynie recalled. “That was her first time doing Rock ‘N’ Roll, and they gave her amazing projects and trusted her with it.”

For Powell, it’s the energy and excitement of the kids that keeps her coming back.

“I feel like this happens every year — it might be at intermission or in between numbers — kids will be in the hallway and start a dance circle, just for fun, letting off steam; the fun that they have together makes me wish I was back in high school again,” Powell said.

Powell and Haynie have volunteered together on various school events since their children’s days at Severna Park Elementary School and agree that getting the extra time with their kids is well worth the effort.

This will be Powell’s last year with a student in the show, as her son is a senior.

“You only have a few years with them before they’re on their own. Just being with the kids is the best part for me,” Powell said, quickly adding, “And the moms.”

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