Superintendent’s Spotlight: Adelaide Ronne & Margaret Calisi

Bravo to Park Avenue Elementary School’s very own Elsa and Anna, Margaret “Maggie” Calisi and Adelaide “Addy” Ronne! Maggie played Elsa and Addy played Anna in the Park Avenue Elementary School Drama Club’s production of Frozen Kids in November and, along with the entire stellar cast, brought the house down on three sold out performances. 

Adelaide Ronne

This is the second year in drama club for the young thespians, both of whom made their official club debuts in last year’s staging of Willy Wonka Kids. The then third-graders played Oompa Loompas, with Addy serving as an Oompa Loompa cast captain.

“Before that I’d never done any other plays, I mean, besides a kindergarten play,” said Addy, who said it’s fun and exciting to perform be in front of the big audiences. “Yea, the crowds were pretty big! Logan – he played Hans – he saw the people when he was walking past the auditorium and he was like, ‘the audience is huge out there!’ We were so excited!”

Maggie never had stage experience prior to last year either, but she gravitated toward drama club out of a lifelong love of singing.

“I’ve been singing since I was pretty young,” Maggie shared. “Singing is like my main passion. So, I thought, well, you sing in drama club, I want to give that a try.”

Margaret Calisi

The cast was putting the final touches on its performance during a Thursday afternoon dress rehearsal when weather reports about opening weekend started to take a dismal turn toward the wintery. How ironic that Frozen Kids premiered on Warwick Valley’s first snow day of 2024! Thanks to the hard work of the district’s fantastic facilities team, the sidewalks were safe and parking lots clear to welcome sold out audiences on Friday and Saturday.

“We weren’t sure what was going to happen for a while,” said Addy. “But it was actually really cool, that the day of the actual play there was snow outside!”

Addy and Maggie love the singing and choreography that comes with musical theater, and both relish the opportunities to immerse themselves in characters who are unlike them.

“The dancing is great, all the funny lines I had,” said Addy, sharing her favorite aspects of this year’s show, including creative collaboration. “Working with other people, but interacting with them in a not-very-normal way because we’re acting as someone else. Like, we all got to talk to each other, but in a different way.”

Maggie agreed, adding, “I’m not the most, like, loud person for example, but it’s fun to act that way, or to act a certain way because it’s how your character would act. And it was fun to be doing something with my friends that all of us love doing so much!”

Maggie and Addie are both in the Park Avenue band and find time to pursue creative and active hobbies outside of school. Maggie attends evening art classes on Tuesdays. Her drawing skills won her an award in October for a poster she created that represents Park Avenue’s R.O.A.R. program (Respect, Outstanding Choices, Acceptance & Responsibility). Maggie is also part of a swimming program in Minisink.

Addy is into sports – snowboarding, softball, basketball and pickleball – and is also a contributor to the school’s student-produced magazine, The Park Avenue Paw Print. Last year, she penned the Paw Print’s “LOL Corner,” and this year wrote about her drama club experience.  

“I wrote a story called Tips If You’re Ever a Main Character,” said Addy. “It’s a behind-the-scenes story about being part of the play.”

In the article she shares some anecdotes from rehearsals and performances, including recovering from a mic that flew off during a dance number and a costume change that didn’t go quite as planned.

“Oh my gosh, I forgot to change my costume at one rehearsal,” said Addy with a laugh. “It was super crazy! They had to rush me back down the hallway and, luckily, we got the right one on. But the two kids on stage who were waiting for me… they were waiting for a long time.”

Addy and Maggie are both looking forward to continuing their pursuit of musical theater in middle school next year. Both are avid promoters of drama club, always encouraging others to think about joining in on the fun.

“I would say any student in second or third grade who likes to sing, or thinks they might like to be in plays, should definitely try drama club,” said Maggie. “I love it. You’re always doing fun things with other people. You get to be part of something that’s really fun.”

Great job, Addy and Maggie! We look forward to enjoying more of your performances in the years to come.

And congratulations to the entire cast of Frozen Kids on a job well done!

Fourth Grade Performers

• Storytellers/Hidden Folk: Madelyn Podolec, Ema Sahmanovic, Isabella Crispino, Keira Sandfort
• Young Anna: Tessa Monti
• Middle Anna: Zeinab Jallow
• Young Elsa: Abigail Legagneur
• Middle Elsa: Leah Romig
• Kristoff: Ezra Bailey
• Sven: Lily Szpajzman
• Olaf: Ewa Mazurek
• Pabbie: Ruby Weisgarber
• Bulda: Rylee Rodriguez
• Hans: Logan Hernandez
• King Agnarr: Brendan Brown
• Queen Iduna: Nora Palmieri
• Wesleton: Ella Kimiecik
• Steward: Mira Tleubaeva
• Bishop: Dominy Decker
• Housekeeper: Grace Bendykowski
• Butler: Esther Mensah
• Handmaiden: Cora Bendykowski
• Cook: Rebecca Nurse
• Townspersons/Hidden Folk: Egypt Rainey, Zoe Ntukogu, Bellamy Cordova, Alexi Lewis, Ella Leet, Valentina Dejesus, Ava Dunado

Third Grade Performers

• Snow Chorus 1
  Captains: Samantha Brown, Yasmin Rutkevitz
  Ensemble: Adeline Haggerty, David MacFarlane, Lucas Somelofski, Kyrie Washington
• Snow Chorus 2
  Captains: Juniper Spicehandler, Kate Ellsworth
  Ensemble: Sadie Corcoran, Sofia Gadea, Mila Hayek, Ava Lupinek, Arden Young
• Snow Chorus 3
  Captains: George Foy, Charlotte Brazier
  Ensemble: Teagan Crandall, Joe Joe Donnelly, Annaliese Garcia, Tessa Mackey, Eva Rodriguez, Ethan Vallejo
• Summer Chorus
  Captains: Emilie Hasbrouck, Ava Spadaccini
  Ensemble: Vivienne Flood, Emerson Hayes, Mia McGloin, Hope Stewart, Evelyn Trass
• 3rd Grade Ensemble
  Vincenzo Amoresano, Harper Burke, Christian Carrasquillo, Simone Goldstein, Liliana LaConti, Breanna O’Neill, Stella Piascik, Brandon Verrico