Nauset Students Push Back Against Drama Teacher’s Reassignment

ORLEANS – Several Nauset Regional High School students came to the defense of the school’s drama teacher last week after learning that he will not be leading the program next year.

Ian Hamilton is at the end of his existing three-year probationary contract. But while he will return to the high school next year, it won’t be as head of the school’s drama program, Nauset Superintendent Brooke Clenchy said in an email last week. 

“Mr. Hamilton will be returning to NRHS next year, however, in a role different from the role he fulfilled this year,” she said.

Molly Kasakoff, whose daughter Makayla is a student of Hamilton’s and a member of the “Nauset Players” drama group, said students in the group were informed by Hamilton May 21 that he would not be leading the drama program next year. The next night, several of Hamilton’s current and former students spoke in his support before the Nauset regional school committee. 

Makayla, who joined drama as a sophomore at Nauset, spoke about the impact that Hamilton and the drama program has had on her.

“I’m dyslexic, so learning lines and studying lines is really hard for me,” she told the committee during the May 22 public comment period. “And he has taught me ways to work around that and how to deal with it.”

Student Desmond Conrad-Ferm of Yarmouthport called Hamilton “a role model” for students and a “wonderful teacher.” He came to last week’s school committee meeting with a petition signed by 148 students in support of keeping Hamilton at the head of the school’s drama program.

“Because Ian is not just a teacher,” he said. “He has created an incredible community and a safe space and a respectful environment for kids to learn and have this amazing experience.”

For Izaak van der Wende of Orleans, vice president of the drama’s club’s executive board, Hamilton’s proposed replacement as drama teacher doesn’t just pose a loss to drama students, but to the Nauset district as a whole. He and others credited Hamilton with creating a culture of support and safety for students when they most needed it. 

“It’s hard to be part of a school that would get rid of a person like that,” he said.

Others spoke more broadly about how Hamilton’s removal from the drama department will impact the state of drama at the high school overall. Aidan Pernal raised concerns with what he saw as “a trend of the arts being demolished” in an effort to cut costs.

“However, I do also think that the arts are what makes Nauset such a good school,” he said. “If it weren’t for the arts programs, I would not still be here as a student.”

“I’ve been talking to teachers and friends all day about this, and what makes Nauset so special is what makes the Outer Cape so special,” echoed Fiona McCray, a senior and drama student from Orleans. “It’s the artists and the visionaries and the creative minds. And at least from my perspective, it seems like this administration is cracking down against this.”

Despite the change, Clenchy in her email said the district’s commitment to drama and the arts remains intact.

“Slight shifts of staffing may occur, but there are no cuts to our programs across NRHS,” she said.  “We understand that arts programs are a critical component of all education, and our programs are popular with strong enrollments. We may continue to refine offerings where needed, but do not project wholesale changes in the foreseeable future.”

Still, students last week said removing Hamilton from the drama program could have an irreversible impact on the culture he helped to foster. Makayla called Hamilton “the light of Nauset.”

“I’m just trying to do everything I can to keep that light in our school,” she said.

Hamilton also worked to hold the drama department to a high standard during the ongoing high school campus reconstruction, noted Ashley Anderson, a junior and member of the drama club’s executive board. She said Hamilton used his connections in the local arts community to keep productions going without a school auditorium in recent years. Through his efforts, she said, performances have been held at other local theaters.

When Emma Smith moved with her family to the Cape as a freshman in early 2024, it was only supposed to be temporary. Now a sophomore, she said she urged her family to stay in large part because of the community she found within the Nauset drama program

“Theater affects so many of us,” she told the school committee. “So please, don’t cut Ian. Don’t take away something that makes this place so special and safe.”

Judith Schumacher, who chairs the regional school committee, said that personnel matters are “not the purview of the school committee,” but rather the Nauset administration. When asked if an agenda item could be included for the committee’s next meeting to discuss Hamilton’s staffing situation, Schumacher was non-committal.

“We’ll see,” she said.

Molly Kasakoff said Tuesday that a meeting between students and Nauset administrators was being planned. 

An email for comment sent to Hamilton last week was not returned. Clenchy declined to provide specifics behind the decision to reassign Hamilton from the drama department, saying it was a private personnel matter.