Mrs. Maralynn Markano, my acting teacher for the past three years, starts each new class with

the name game (it’s where you say an adjective that’s letter starts with your name). And my first day in

acting class was one of the scariest days of my life. I have always been the “quiet girl” in classes. And I

kept thinking What if I mess up? What if I look stupid? What if I don’t make any friends?

But on my first day of acting class, I discovered one of the happiest things in my life.

Markano said, “This is theater; it doesn't matter if you look silly, and you need to put yourself out there.”

Mrs. Markano kept pushing me to go one step further and she challenged me with

improvisation and characters. She believed I could become a new character or deliver lines on the spot.

And if she believed I could, I felt I had to because she had so much faith in me.

She actually takes time to care about each student and his or her life. I can go to her with my

problems and know she will have good advice to give me. She is caring to the point of a mom. To many

of us in stage crew, she is referred to as our mother. Anyone who has taken Mrs. Markano’s classes

knows she is a compassionate, hilarious, and amazing person. She takes time to talk to students and

help them excel in the class. And she’s always doing her best to teach in an enjoyable way.

I’ve taken many acting and directing courses with Mrs. Markano—and even taken them over—

because her classes are like my coffee in the morning: she gives me the energy to get going in 7:20am.

Mrs. Markano is not just an Acting teacher; she is also a Theatre Arts teacher, Directing,

Advanced Speech, and English 10 teacher, as well as the director of our school plays. She dedicates her

life to her work. She spends hours after school at stage crew construction and rehearsals. She gives up

her family time to help us succeed. I have never seen someone so dedicated to her school, and someone

who wants us to be the best we can be.

There’s a reason why people keep coming back to take her classes, and it’s because of Mrs.

Markano. Her smile can brighten anyone’s day and her love of her students is never ending. She leaves a lasting impression on each student, as many choose to take her classes again, and again, and again, as I have.