Anna Fowler

On September 14, Mr Wilhoit talks to the students in Mr. Brown’s ELA class.

During the months of September and October, professional actor and teacher, R.H Hollis Wilhoit, came to visit the seventh graders. Wilhoit visited during their ELA hours to talk about acting and the Edgar Allen Poe experience. Seventh grader Audrey Clark said, “As a Poe fanatic,and actor myself, it was really cool to see him teach about the Poe experience and see another actor’s accomplishments.” The actor visited each team three times in their classrooms with a different act each time. Wilhoit was great at interacting with the students and would give them different activities to do.7th grade ELA teacher, Mrs. Estenson, said “I liked how he was interactive with the kids and they weren’t just sitting down listening and doing nothing. They were a part of it.” 

The students and teachers were very pleased with the experience Wilhoit provided. Mr Brown was happy, along with his students. “He is extremely passionate in his craft and was a delight to work with in my classroom,” he said.“My students enjoyed his energy and were very engaged in the activities that he walked them through.”

Wilhoit gave the students great activities like writing scripts, and showing them a photo that the students would then make up a story about. “I hope they learned they can get inspiration from anywhere in a story,” Estenson said. It seems that Mr. Wilhoit was very successful at entertaining the students while also teaching them. The teachers hope to bring Wilhoit back in the future. Brown said, “I was very lucky to be able to have him come to my classroom and teach my students about dramatic elements of performances and what he and Coterie do each year.”