In February of 2022, Anthony Depinto worked on the lights and sound for Oakwood Middle School’s production of Singin’ in The Rain Jr. The following school year, he is teaching high schoolers how to do the exact same thing. The Light and Sound program at GlenOak has a new face, and it is one that it has not seen on a daily basis since 2012.

Depinto began working as a student employee in 2011, during his junior year at GlenOak, but things have been altered greatly since then.

“I feel like everything is different. The world has changed a lot. Technology has changed so much, we have so many more types of lights and microphones,” Depinto said.

This is Depinto’s first year teaching at GlenOak, and he is already surrounded by students that remind him of himself, such as Anzel Richkowski, one of this school year’s student employees. 

“I plan to go into stage management, I’ll have over 500 hours of experience which will be more than most people,” Richkowski said.

Light and Sound is a program for students who love the theatre, but are not exactly eager to be on stage, and it creates a great atmosphere for people to bond over a common interest. You can not have a show without light and sound, they do a huge part in telling the story, and engaging the audience.

“Light and sound is a close-knit group of anyone that wants to be a part of something bigger than itself. No matter what you’re doing you’re a huge part of it,” Depinto said.

It is not an understatement to describe Light and Sound as close-knit, when most of the class is taught in the small Light and Sound booth that can be seen in the back of the auditorium. If they are not in the booth, you can find the class sitting together in the theatre, or even on the stage. Even Depinto has formed a great bond with his students in the small part of the year that he has been teaching at GlenOak.

“They’re goofy, but they’re all very smart and intelligent students, and I’ve noticed they all care about the theater like I do,” Depinto said. 

A lot of students do not know what the Light and Sound Program entails, or that it even exists. Some say that the Light and Sound Program is the foundation that the GlenOak concerts, musicals, and plays are built upon. This year’s Light and Sound students encourage anyone to join if they feel compelled to.

“If you’re genuinely interested, do it. You learn a lot that can be applied to a lot of things outside theatre, such as film. You also learn a lot about being safe,” Richkowski said.

In regards to safety, the Light and Sound students learn how to operate extremely heavy, and sometimes dangerously hot equipment. It is the responsibility of the Light and Sound students to keep themselves, as well as the actors on stage safe.

In every class is it important to have a teacher who you connect with, and who is passionate about the subject that they are teaching. When it comes to Depinto, he has high hopes for what he wants his students to take away from the Light and Sound program.