Small school good fit for California transfer

Heather Siembieda packed along seven years of community theater experience when she moved to Spirit Lake for her senior year last fall. Although most teens would not relish a relocation in their final high school year, there were a few perks in store for Siembieda. Because of her numerous performances in California, she was selected to choreograph the high school’s musical “Ducktails & Bobbysox” last month.

Drama teacher Jacqui Duran asked the 17-year-old transfer student to help because of her past experiences.

“This was Timberlake’s first musical and if it was not for Heather, we would not have pulled it off,” Duran said. “She was very organized and worked well with all of the students involved.”

Since age 10, Siembieda belonged to a community theater group and performed in several plays each year. Although she had been in musicals before, she never choreographed anything herself. She was surprised that Duran asked her to take on the job when she was so new to the school.

“I don’t think she even knew I had danced before,” Siembieda said.

High school productions differ from the community theater events she participated in, where actors were of every age and all were volunteers. Practice took up much of Siembieda’s after-school hours with rehearsals taking place about four times per week and four hours per night.

At Timberlake High, practice takes place during school hours and is directed by students. Siembieda tapped into the steps she learned in past musicals to create dances for the show.

“I listened to the songs over and over and started writing things down that would go,” she said.

She kept the steps simple and recognized that it would take time for her peers to get comfortable with the idea of a musical and dancing in front of each other.

“They warmed up to it,” she said. “I think they want to do one next year.”

Besides the opportunity to choreograph, Siembieda also found academic advantages in a smaller school system. Since her transfer, she made the National Honor Society and “Who’s Who Among American High School Students.” She lettered in academics and was named Timberlake’s Student of the Month for January and Artist of the Month for December.

“None of this stuff has ever happened to me in California,” she said. “There’s so many people. It’s very different.”

Her school in Redlands, Calif., had 3,500 students – about four times as many as attend Timberlake. She made the move to North Idaho with her mother, Gina, who was the head costume designer for their prior theater group, and her father, Douglas. Her ninth-grade brother Alexander prefers riding motorcycles to theater, Siembieda said.

Timberlake’s drama class put on productions of “Treasure Island” and “Tom Sawyer” earlier in the school year and Heather had roles in both. She admits she is “obsessed” with musicals and owns CDs of her favorites.

In the future she’d like to return to California to attend college. She plans to major in nursing and minor in musical theater. She keeps in touch with her old theater friends, mostly via the Internet. One went on to star in a Nickelodeon television program and another travels with an off-Broadway show. She’s glad she’s found new friends in her smaller school who share her love of theater.

“I knew that drama would be a good place to meet people,” she said. “You bond more when you share such a strong interest.”