MAD community petitions to move high school arts program to Whitehorse theatre

Some students and parents in the Music, Arts and Drama (MAD) program say their new location at a Whitehorse high school is "inadequate," and are pushing to move to the Guild Hall, a local theatre.

"It's just been very limited in what we can do as a program," said Grade 10 MAD student Lucas Taggart-Cox. He says their new space at Porter Creek Secondary School isn't big enough for everyone to rehearse together with proper distancing.

"It's not the same kind of dynamic as it normally is at Wood Street. It's just kind of dampened everything."

MAD is an experiential high school program that offers Yukon students an alternative to traditional high school. It is usually at the Wood Street Centre, where MAD students use their own theatre.

But to make more space at F.H. Collins Secondary School, the territory, as part of its COVID-19 reopening plan, moved the Grade 8's to the Wood Street Centre, meaning the MAD program had to be moved to a classroom in Porter Creek Secondary School.

That's left MAD students without access to their longtime theatre, and sharing a smaller rehearsal space with high schoolers at Porter Creek. Students say the new setup isn't ideal.

"The MAD program, it doesn't really fit in a normal high school environment," said Taggart-Cox.

"It thrives well when the people in the program are able to know that whoever they may pass in the hallway will not judge them."

The program usually doesn't use school bells to allow for a less rigid schedule. The bells are turned off in their new classroom at Porter Creek, however, Taggart-Cox says MAD students can still hear bells from the rest of the school.

Grade 10 student Cameron Greer says the "kids at [Porter Creek] have been kind of mean to us and the space is really small."

Parents and students protested the move when it was announced this summer. And now, more than 500 people have signed a petition calling for the MAD program to move from Porter Creek Secondary School to the Guild Hall, a theatre in Whitehorse.

Guild Hall an option, president says

The petition, started by another Grade 10 student with help from a MAD parent, says Porter Creek is an "inadequate" space for the program. MAD has a "free flowing" nature, the petition says, and "because of the changes, the quality the program has unfortunately declined."

Guild Hall president Mary Sloan, a retired MAD teacher, says the Guild would be an ideal location. Sloan says she proposed the idea to the Department of Education, but there's been no progress.

"It just makes so much sense to me ... and then it opens up space at Porter Creek as well," Sloan said.

Department of Education spokesperson Kyle Nightingale said they are aware of the petition. He did not say whether the department has considered moving the MAD program to the Guild.

Sloan says she had a meeting with a superintendent and MAD parents to show them the Guild. She says the theatre housed MAD in past years, and she has frequently communicated with the department about the proposal.

In his statement, Nightingale said the department will continue to work with high school administrators to "monitor and adjust supports to ensure these programs are meeting the needs of students to the greatest extent possible."