Bridger Students Experience Thrill of the Theater, See Highly Acclaimed Coterie Production

Thanks to a unique grant program and the desire of a Bridger Middle School teacher to give her students a unique out-of-classroom learning experience, every Bridger student saw The Coterie’s highly-acclaimed production ‘The Miracle Worker.’ Wanting her students to see a ‘live’ production and learn proper theater etiquette, Sarah Caughey, reading teacher at Bridger, had a not-so-small problem- how to get everyone to the theater’s Crown Center location. The Coterie’s Your Ticket to Ride– a program providing transportation funding for school groups- was the answer. Your Ticket to Ride provides subsidies to schools, so transportation costs don’t keep them from attending a Coterie production. With that problem solved, Caughey began prepping the students for their theater experience.

“In class, we read Helen Keller’s autobiography ‘Water,’ hoping the students could learn from our discussions and get an idea of what Helen Keller overcame,” Caughey said. “My hope was, if the students had a better understanding of the obstacles she (Keller) faced, maybe they too, could be inspired.” Students also watched the theater’s etiquette video and learned about Louis Braille and Anne Sullivan, the main character in ‘The Miracle Worker’ and the teacher who helped Keller learn Braille and learn to communicate.

Established in 1979, the Coterie is a non-profit professional theater presenting audience-challenging productions and providing educational and dramatic outreach programs throughout the Kansas City area.