Wheaton High School Principal George Arlotto and Assistant Principal Chris Garran invited CAST to produce From Page to Stage at Wheaton High School in the fall of 2002. Funded with a generous grant from the Gilbert and Jaylee Mead Family Foundation and with support from the University of Maryland, CAST enlisted the help of University of Maryland Professor Scot Reese and Wheaton teacher David Field. Students will attend the University of Maryland Theatre Department’s production of Romeo and Juliet at Clarice Smith Center of Performing Arts in March 2003.

The gracious support of business partners including Shopper's Food Warehouse, Papa John’s Pizza, Domino’s Pizza, Ledo’s Pizza, and Perfection Learning Corporation contributed to the success of the From Page to Stage sessions.

November 6, 2002
Session One focused on getting acquainted with improvisation, trust-building, and voice exercises, as well as confidence and self-esteem building. Students then looked closely at Shakespeare's language.

November 13, 2002
Session Two was an exploration of the techniques of stage combat. Students, under the direction of Casey Keleba, learned how to stage conflicts and use the body effectively and convincingly. Activities focused on movement, blocking, stage combat, lighting, props, and music. Workgroups began to rehearse their selected performance pieces.

November 20, 2002
Session Three began with warm-up exercises and movement-oriented drama games. Students worked on scenes, examining lines of dialogue as pairs and interpreting relationships between characters and actions, and then acted them out for the group.

December 4, 2002
Session Four studied Shakespeare in the media. With the help of Brianna Jackson, students compared film and animated adaptations of Shakespeare's plays and considered the benefits and pitfalls of adaptations. Students also continued to rehearse performance pieces.

December 17, 2002
Session Five reviewed students’ experiences in the program. Workgroups performed and critiqued each other’s performance pieces.

February 5, 2003
Session Six allowed partcipants to discuss their experiences with the program evaluator, Kenyatta Albeny.

March 12, 2003
On a field trip to the Clarice Smith Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Maryland, students had the opportunity to see a production of Romeo and Juliet and compare their own performances to other actor's interpretations.