A theater full of Warren County School District students is pictured watching a member of the Bright Star Touring Theater perform recently at the Struthers Library Theater.

More than 800 Warren County students took their study of Native American history to the Struthers Library Theater recently.

The Warren County School District continued its Arts in Education undertaking with a grant made possible by the Struthers Library Theater to bring the Bright Star Touring Theater to the Struthers Library Theater, which was filled with 827 students for a performance of Cherokee Tales.

“The school works with SLT to select the shows that will enhance and support the curriculum across as many grade levels as we can,” said Amy O’Donnell of the Warren County School District. “This year, we have shows scheduled for K-8 and grades 11-12. The performance of Cherokee Tales was especially dynamic in its connection with the audience. The laughs, cheers, and applause showed the students were excited about the content and its delivery.

The relevancy of the experience will create a connection of background knowledge as the third through fifth graders have content in the ELA or Social Studies components of their curriculum related to Native Americans. Exploring related content through a theatrical adventure allows another layer where interacting with the arts supports and builds greater understanding through a different perspective.”

The Arts in Education allows for an interaction among students with their studies producing a different up close perspective of the content.

Cherokee Tales introduces young audiences to the Cherokee people through a series of stories. The play was developed in partnership with the Cherokee Historical Association and included a study guide classes could use to reinforce the presentation from Bright Star.