Goddard works quickly to ensure student safety when auditorium fly bars become unstable
The damaged fly bar support beam above the theatre stage before it was fixed.
April 14, 2016
When a potentially lethal danger arose concerning the fly bars in the auditorium, principal Carol Goddard and theatre teacher Scott Tarzwell sprang into action to ensure student safety and that the show would go on.
If you’ve ever been in the auditorium, then you might have noticed the “fly bars” holding up the heavy equipment hanging from the ceiling. What you might not have noticed is that these were dangerous to students.
A few weeks ago, three fly techs were puzzled because they had trouble lowering one of the fly bars. When they inspected them, they found that one of the beams holding the bars was cracked and the rope was rotting.
“It was dangerous,” Tarzwell said. Had the fly bar beam broken, all of the lights and equipment above the stage could have come crashing down onto students, potentially making the entire theatre unsound. When the fly bar damage was noticed, the auditorium was booked to be in use all day by a student group. Safety comes first, and it is a priority. — Principal Carol Goddard
Tarzwell went to Goddard as soon as the students informed him of the problem. “We cleared the stage that day…and informed principal Goddard, [In the Heights director Jamaly] Allan, and the administrators,” Tarzwell said. “Mrs.Goddard was instantly on top of it, she contacted her bosses and waited for them to get back to her on if we could use the stage.”
Goddard called her MCPS contacts and said, “Somebody is going to get up here and take it apart and redo it.” She added that while workers have looked at the fly bar system in the past, nothing had ever been replaced. “Safety comes first, and it is a priority,” Goddard added. “The last thing we want to do is get somebody hurt or for somebody to lose their life. That’s just not okay with me.”
Because of Goddard’s dedication to student safety, the issue was resolved before the spring musical, In the Heights, opened, allowing the show to go on. The show will be performed this Friday and Saturday nights at 7pm in the auditorium.
The fraying rope that held the fly bar before it was replaced.
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