Arts Student of the Week: Parker Jean Tatic

Arts Student of the Week Parker Jean Tatic clearly recalls being inspired by the actress Florence Pugh the day she saw Pugh perform Amy in Greta Gerwig's version of "Little Women." "I thought it was really interesting," Tatic said, "how she was portraying Amy. Because in the original movie and the book Amy is a little girl, and even in the musical.

But in her version, Pugh played both young Amy and adult Amy. And for some strange reason it stood out to me how she was portraying a younger child, but then had the maturity of an adult when she performed as adult Amy. It really spoke to me for some strange reason, and I've looked up to her ever since."

NHS drama teacher Amanda Foust selected Parker as this week's Arts Student of the Week. "Parker is a sophomore in Drama 1 this semester," Foust said. "In this class, Parker has become a leader and promising actress. In class she is focused and dedicated to learning all that she can in acting and has improved a lot this semester."

Tatic has been involved in theater since she was in elementary school, including in school plays and local theater productions. She has enjoyed performing in musicals and plays since she was young.

"My mother was the one who introduced me to theater. She showed me 'Annie' and 'The Wizard of Oz' when I was very young, and ever since then, I've always had a passion for acting," she said. Tatic has been attending plays at NHS since she was four, and she says that taking the drama class now and seeing the productions the school produces has been "amazing."

Tatic decided to take drama as an elective, and at first she was nervous, but she discovered the positive environment that is built into Niwot theater, and eventually felt more comfortable as she continued her activities in drama and got to know other people who are also passionate about it.

Tatic's favorite show at NHS has been "Puffs." "It was really good and funny and that is one of the shows that inspired me to want to take the drama class at my school," she said.

"Something that always interests me in theaters is seeing the way that the show ends up looking after all of the hard work that people put into it," Tatic said. "There are millions of shows in the world, and they can be seen all in different ways. But it's the way that the actors bring life to the role and the way that the sets make the environment feel like you're actually there."

"As we draw near to our final for the class, which is a class-wide production studying acting and production management," Foust said, "Parker has stepped in as a director and helped bring the chosen show to life."

"For our final in this class," Tatic explained, "we were told we would have to do a class production and at first, I was nervous. But after we finally chose our production, my teacher, Ms. Foust, was asking if there were any students that would like to be directors. I volunteered because I thought I could share some of my ideas about what we could do in certain scenes and the set for the script. Since we have been working on it and finals have been approaching, I have really enjoyed being the manager. It is nice to get to talk to the actors and hear some of the things they are concerned about for our production, but also just to be able to answer questions about this amazing play we are doing.

"A memorable moment for me was when I was helping direct the play we are working on in my theater class. We are performing 'The House' and I remember when we were trying to decide what to do for the set. We were talking about how we have a bunch of things at our houses that could work to bring in and hang up in the room and put on the stage to make it feel more like a set and not just a stage in the middle of the classroom. Eventually, when everybody put all their ideas together, we decided to just use the things that were around us to try and get a natural feel for our set...and it came out well."

Tatic enjoys being a student at NHS, and she especially appreciates how involved everybody is whether in sports, theater, choir, band, or orchestra. "Everybody really does have something to do at our school, and I think it's really important for kids to have those chances," she said.

Tatic also enjoys playing sports. She plays softball for NHS, and she also plays lacrosse for Mead High School, the St. Vrain Valley School District team. In addition, she sings in the school choir, and in her free time she enjoys practicing music. Tatic loves to sing, and she is starting to play various instruments.

Tatic plans to attend college, and she would like to earn a degree in physical therapy. Tatic has had several injuries that have required physical therapy, and she finds it fascinating to learn how the therapists know so much about the body, and how all the joints and muscles work together.