My Letter to the School Board

Members of the Daniel Boone School Board,

For those of you are unfamiliar with me, I am Christian Kriebel a proud of alumnus of Daniel Boone High School. I will probably best be remembered for my portrayal of the Beast in Disney's Beauty and the Beast, the 2009 Spring musical. That was not my only theatrical portrayal though, I graced the Daniel Boone stage many a time in my four years of high school. Whether it had been in the Fall play, the Spring musical, a choir concert, or Mr. Boone my senior year.

I am writing after hearing the dreadful news of the proposal to cut the extracurricular activities that during my time in high school, I loved so dearly. I ask you to take what I have in to consideration, I've thought long and hard on how to put these thoughts and feelings on the matter in to words.

Being a part of something great makes people great. The friendships and memories that I made during my time in the theater program are what helped shape me into the man I am today. Joining these great activities opened me up to new opportunities beyond that of what the audience sees. The show is only the final product the long process involved in the acting field. The hard work and dedication an actor, singer, or dancer puts in to a show is not always seen by the audience. The time and effort each one of us put in to every show not only helped us perform in the end, but also helped us learn as we went. We learned not only about ourselves, but about each other.

I sit here at my desk, in my dorm, at Millersville University, the first of my family to attend college, the first of my family to go beyond a high school education to further my future. I thank my involvement in theater during high school for that. I had something that I loved doing, acting, singing, and in some occasions, such as the musical and Mr. Boone, dancing.

My involvement in these activities kept me busy during my time there. It kept me away from the pressures of drugs that most fall victim to in their high school years. I had something so much more powerful to keep my mind off of all of those poisons of the out side world. In doing away with these activities, I worry that others will lose that chance to find something so great, something so powerful, and they will fall victim.

These programs changed me for the better, there is no denying that. I learned aspects of hard work and dedication, and the feeling one gets when all of that pays off is like no other. In cutting these programs, you will be robbing other students of their chance to feel this way, the feeling of that rush of adrenaline when they walk out on to stage for the first time to a full house. Most of you have never experienced this on your own, but I assure you that it is a feeling like no other.

These students deserve the opportunity to feel like they are a part of something great, something real. Please do not rob them of this chance.

Sincerely,

Christian N. Kriebel