Sophia Corrado, a student at Chagrin Falls Intermediate School, has earned a distinguished honor in the world of youth theater. Corrado has had her original play, “The Suspicious Dame,” selected for production in the upcoming Marilyn Bianchi Kids' Playwriting Festival at Dobama Theatre.
The festival, an annual celebration of young playwriting talent, gives students the opportunity to see their creative work brought to life on stage by professional actors and directors. Corrado's script was chosen from numerous submissions throughout Northeast Ohio. “This is an amazing accomplishment for not only Sophia but for our school as a whole,” said Principal Curtis Howell. “It’s a great example of how we are personalizing instruction for students and giving them ownership of their learning.”
"We are incredibly proud of Sophia," said teacher Alannah Waite. "Her selection for this respected festival showcases both her exceptional writing ability and creativity."
What makes Corrado’s achievement even more impressive is her independent approach to the project. Earlier this year, Instructional Coach Mandy Marlo helped CFIS teachers expand offerings of writing contests to students as enrichment opportunities, which included the Playwriting Festival contest. After learning about the opportunity through her English language arts teacher, who shared the contest with CFIS students several months ago, Corrado took complete ownership of the process—from developing characters and plot to finalizing and submitting her script.
The Marilyn Bianchi Kids' Playwriting Festival, hosted annually by Cleveland's Dobama Theatre, is Ohio's longest-running youth playwriting festival. It provides young writers in grades 1-12 the unique opportunity to see their original works performed by professional actors.
The Chagrin Falls Schools community celebrates Sophia's creative accomplishment and looks forward to supporting her at the festival performances June 5-8.
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