“Cause out there, somewhere, someone’s gonna love you,” is one of the lines from HONK JR. This is the play Wayne Middle School performed in the middle of April. This musical is a twist on the Ugly Duckling story. In this version it talks more about the barnyard animals that live nearby the duck family. Ida, the mother duck, loves Ugly when no one else does. Many are frightened by her appearance and her honk. Throughout the rest of the play, it shows Ugly’s journey after she is separated from her mother and meets the cat, who wants to eat her. Ugly meets many new friends and in the end is reunited with her mother and discovers that she is a swan. Everyone by the end of the play highly respects Ugly and apologizes for their rudeness in the beginning. This musical is absolutely adorable and all of the middle schoolers loved it.

One student, Elena Peterson, is the one of the many amazing people who made this all happen. Early in the school year, she went to Principal Peterson and asked him if they could do a middle school musical. He responded by telling her that if she found someone to supervise and be in charge then it can happen. Elena asked Toni Lamb and she accepted. After several months of practice they performed.

A special thank you to everyone who helped and another big thanks to all of the middle school students who participated. A huge thank you to Toni Lamb for directing and helping everyone along with Paula Pace for helping our Wayne Middle students get into their characters. Another special thanks to Elena Peterson for making this happen and to Andrea Peterson for helping up in the sound booth.

Written by Allie Peterson