Prospective students scout out Rosebud School of the Arts

Times Contributor       

 

When prospective students consider attending Rosebud School of the Arts (RSA), they’re encouraged to attend Scout Week. Scouts attend classes, watch rehearsals and performances, participate in a talent assessment, and serve dinner to theatregoers. Scouts stay with RSA students and eat meals with Rosebud residents, and their week concludes with an interview with RSA faculty.

March 24 to 29, we followed two Scouts through Scout Week, and they told us what the week meant to them.

Sarah Siggelkow is a Calgary Grade 12 student who’s currently performing in Godspell. 

“The arts have totally been my passion since I was a kid,” she said. Her interest in Rosebud was shaped by a drama teacher who often talked about Rosebud, and by her grandmother, who “just loves (Rosebud).”

Emily Salkeld is a Calgary Grade 11 student who loves theatre. She sings, and plays piano and guitar. Her decision to attend Scout Week was influenced by her parents’ love for Rosebud, and by a family friend, Mark Lewandowski, who’s also Centre of the Arts’ General Manager.

On their first evening of Scout Week, after orientation, a village tour, and meeting their hosts, Sarah and Emily talked with us.

Sarah had “fallen in love with this small community and the idea of working closely with other people who have similar passions as I do.” 

She hoped Scout Week would show her whether RSA’s programs would be a good fit for her. By the end of the week, she hoped to say, “this is the path I want to take.”

Emily said Rosebud “seemed like such a good place and such a homey place where people are so willing to help each other out … I wouldn’t want to study theatre anywhere else.” 

She was excited about the week and about her future. 

“I’m feeling like (RSA) is a good fit for me, just because of all the unique things that Rosebud offers,” she said.

During their first three days, Sarah and Emily attended eight classes, two choir practices, two play rehearsals, and a chapel. They ate meals in six different homes, and performed their talent assessments. 

Sarah e-mailed that she found the talent assessment affirming. She was working hard and having fun. 

“I loved seeing the costume trailer!” she wrote. “I also loved experiencing the musical aspect of Rosebud.”

She was so impressed by the friendliness and overall sincerity of Rosebud’s people that it influenced her decision-making. 

“I immediately connected to Rosebud,” she said. “I felt welcomed and appreciated. I am inspired and I hope to attend Rosebud School of the Arts, whether right after high school or not right away.

“Scout Week has been hugely helpful. It has given me an excellent understanding of what Rosebud is and what it offers.”

Before Emily’s talent assessment, she emailed, “I’ve got a weird mix of excitement and nervousness.” 

Afterward, she wrote, “that required me to put myself out there a little more than I am comfortable with,” but she welcomed the challenge. 

“Scout Week is helping me grow as an actor … I’m learning a lot of technique things and I’m really excited to go home and use them!” 

“It’s encouraging to have so many talented people hear what I have to say and encourage me in where I am in my walk as an actress right now,” Emily wrote. She also liked getting an inside look at the classes.

“It was definitely worth giving up my spring break to come here,” Emily said. “Whether or not I choose to attend RSA it’s been a great learning experience and an amazing opportunity to grow.”

On their last morning, we caught up with them again.

Sarah was tired. 

“For such a small town, there’s definitely not a shortage of things to do,” she said. She’d loved serving in the dinner theatre, and watching The Diary of Anne Frank.

“People (in Rosebud) look at you in the eyes when they talk. They care about you,” Sarah said. 

Their acceptance taught her a lesson. 

“I learned that everywhere I go, I have something to offer,” she said. “When I come into a new place, I need to know who I am, and not wait for the people there to tell me that I have something to offer.

 “I love how Rosebud sees education and the arts as more than just something to learn or a schooling system or anything like that. It’s not a school. It’s a community of people learning their passion.

“Scout Week has been awesome for me. It’s just cleared up a lot of questions I have. The challenges have been to figure out how I would fit (into RSA) … it’s a hard decision.”

Emily also learned a lot. 

“I thought I had kind of known it all before, which is typical, of course, for a teenager … I realized that there’s so much that I don’t know.”

Classes were fun. She’d loved The Diary of Anne Frank, visiting the costume trailers and serving dinner. But meeting people was still her favourite. 

“The community is so nice, and genuine in their niceness, and caring, and so willing to help each other out,” she said.

Deciding whether to attend RSA is a “huge challenge,” Emily said. “I really want to come here, but I don’t know if God wants me to come here or not.”

RSA’s next Scout Week is scheduled for May 2014. Contact Heather Zacharias, recruitment officer, at recruitment@rosebudschoolofthearts.com for information.