Play teaching SAD 9 students impact of bullying
Many say that slinging harsh words and raising fists is a foreign concept to them.
By Samantha C. DePoy
Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – This Friday, a cocky young porcupine, twin weasels, an ultra-cool fisher with evil intentions and a chattering gaggle of woodland creatures will teach hundreds of young students in SAD 9 a message about the negative impacts bullying has on a community.

The animals are all characters in a play that will be performed by sixth-graders from the Cascade Brook School in Farmington twice at the Nordica Auditorium at the University of Maine at Farmington Friday.

Written by Farmington sisters Judith and Brenda Hupp last fall, “Stick Together” is a musical that uses the antics of animals to push a strong message about the values of friendship, integrity and loyalty, and of zero-tolerance for bullying behavior.

As Quilly Nose, an adult porcupine of good moral standing, says in the play, “If you can’t be a good forest citizen, you’ll be banned from the meadow.”

Morgen Hall, 11, plays Bristle Bean, the cocky cowardice young “p-pine” who taunts her fellow forest friends and foes but in the end learns it’s best to stick together.

“Doing the play is fun,” Hall said, “but along with the fun, it also sends a message about bullying. It teaches acceptance and that if you want to have friends, you have to let friends into your life.”

Acting in the play has proved tough for the cast of nearly 50 students, many whom say that slinging harsh words and raising fists is a foreign concept to them. “If I acted like this in real life,” said Hall, who swaggers through the green forest inflicting fear upon the other creatures, “I’d be really mad at myself.”

Performing in the play has made students, including 11-year-old Addie Lining, more aware of how their actions and words can make their peers happy, or make them hurt.

Lining, who plays Stinky, a young skunk, defines bullying as “continually being mean or picking on someone to make them feel bad.”

The play has taught her to not judge a book by its cover, she said, or in the animal-speak of “Stick Together,” “You can’t tell what a critter is like on the inside by their outsides.”

It all comes back to the golden rule, said 12-year-old Samantha Mochamer. “If you want someone to be nice to you, you have to be nice to them.”

While the simple wisdom of silly talking animals seems a comical way to teach such a serious message, Judith Hupp said humor makes the topic of bullying more accessible to younger students. “We are hoping the messages will stick with students, but at the same time, not seem preachy. Animals are a good vehicle to make that happen because they are non-threatening.”

The moral of “Stick Together,” she said, is accountability. “It really is about choices. Each one of us makes a million little choices and we don’t always think about responsibility. Kids need to realize that the little choices they make that seem harmless at the time are the ones that always come back and get you.”

sdepoy@sunjournal.com