The Curiosity and Wonder of Three Young Men

By Carol Woolum Roberts

I recently received a William Faulkner quote in a text group I am in with some other creative women.  Here is what the quote said:

 "At one time I thought the most important thing was talent. I think now that - the young man or the young woman must possess or teach himself, train himself, in infinite patience, which is to try and to try and to try until it comes right. He must train himself in ruthless intolerance. That is, to throw away anything that is false no matter how much he might love that page or that paragraph. The most important thing is insight, that is ... curiosity to wonder, to mull, and to muse why it is that man does what he does. And if you have that, then I don't think the talent makes much difference, whether you've got that or not.”

For close to forty years, Paul and I have spent a majority of our adult lives working with young people in one way or another.

Paul’s chosen profession, education, gave him many years in the classroom interacting with students in a classroom setting.

After realizing his love for theater, he got a Drama Endorsement so he could teach the theater arts, besides his English and Speech emphasis. We both worked with students at Kellogg High School, Kellogg Middle School, local elementary schools, and through productions at the Sixth Street Melodrama.

Church also provided another way to interact with youth of all ages, through being Youth Pastors and Sunday School teachers, and working with youth through church music and Christmas productions.

Our current business, Grow Me A Story, provides us year-round opportunities with elementary through high school age kids, helping them explore their creativity through after school programs and summer camps.

If you have been reading my blog recently, you know we had a big event in our family this month….the wedding of our daughter Cosette to Taylor Barnes. 

But in the midst of this planning and preparation, there were three special performances we saw that featured three of the people we have worked with, or are currently working with, in the creative realm. Three young men who are on a creative journey filled with curiosity and wonder.

On February 9, Wyatt Sepa-Newell performed a one-man show in New York City at the Green Room. Unfortunately we could not fly to NYC to see it live, but he did provide a streaming option that Paul, our daughter Molly and I watched live in the comfort of our home. Wyatt is 27 years old, and from the moment we started working with him, we knew he was something special.

Wyatt recalls his first time on stage as being in a children’s production at the Sixth Street Melodrama when he was 8 years old.  We saw his stage debut, because two of our daughters were also in the same production.

His love of performance started early. I remember his mom and grandparents sharing about the musical theater productions he would perform in their home.

By the time Wyatt reached middle school age, he started helping us at the Sixth Street Melodrama backstage, and he started performing as part of the summer melodramas. 

Paul had him in drama class.  He also had a beautiful voice and could play the piano.  It got to a point when he was in high school where we told him and his mom that we had reached the end of our ability to challenge him.  He needed voice lessons, dance lessons, and any other kinds of lessons to help him pursue his dreams of being a performer. 

And that is what he did.  He took his ability to have curiosity and wonder and applied it to his craft. After high school he attended AMDA, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City.  He has continued to learn more of his craft and now he just debuted on stage in NYC.  We always knew Wyatt had that ability to make his dreams come true.  It hasn’t been easy.  There has been struggle.  But he never gave up!

The following day, on February 10^th, we saw one of our current students in the Missoula Children’s Theater production of “Peter and Wendy”.  Thayer Caraway portrayed Peter.

I met Thayer for the first time during the summer of 2019, I believe.  Paul and I did a drama workshop as part of a valley wide summer camp, and Thayer was one of the participants. 

We reconnected again in October of 2020 when Paul and I volunteered to be part of a relief station for the Jackass Half Marathon race in our community, and Thayer and his mom Jessie were also a part of our group. Paul had brought a fake hand and arm as a prop, and Thayer had all kinds of fun with that prop, as well as donning a pig nose and pink pig ears.  It was a fun day, and again, we saw something special in Thayer!

I had retired from the Kellogg School District in the spring of 2018. Paul followed closely behind me in the spring of 2020. By the fall of 2021 we were starting a business with the intent of working with people to live creative lives.

In the fall of 2021 I had a conversation with Thayer’s mom about the possibility of us putting on a summer camp for kids who wanted to explore their creativity.  Jessie loved the idea and said Thayer would love to participate.

So during the summer of 2022, “Grow Your Creativity Camp” was realized, and Thayer was one of our first campers in the 6-9 age group.  It didn’t take long working with Thayer to realize he had something special.

Over the years we have watched him grow in curiosity and wonder. One way is his music abilities (he went from playing no instruments to now playing ukulele, cello, and experimenting with the keyboard.  At least these are the ones that we know of).  He has a great singing voice. He also likes to draw.  He likes to write and tell stories. He is a great kid who is kind and has a big heart.

During the same summer of 2022, we met Finley Meyers. Again, we saw right away there was something unique about this kid.  He attended our summer camp in 2022, with the 10-13-year-olds. Throughout the week we learned he was an accomplished piano player, and loved to portray different characters using voices and mannerisms.  He had already been writing scripts at home on his own. He was already full of curiosity and wonder in many creative areas of his life.

Here is an example of the wonderful uniqueness of Fin.  As a member of the Kellogg Middle School drama class, he was part of a group that came to the Sixth Street Melodrama for a field trip that Paul and I put on for the class.  He showed up in some kind of camouflage outfit that made him look like the underbrush in the forest. He also owns a variety of suits that he enjoys wearing. (This kid has style!!)

In the fall of 2022, we started offering after school classes called “Explore Your Creativity” for students who had participated in our summer camps. Fin was unable to start in the fall. He started a one on one performing class with us in January of 2023. He was so eager to learn more about serious acting and stretching himself with is vocal music as well.

The next summer Fin participated in the Christian Youth Theater-North Idaho summer program in Coeur d’Alene.  He continues to take classes with us as well as the CYT classes.  He is currently in “The SpongeBob Musical” portraying Peter Perch. He had a great solo that he nailed!

When Finley couldn’t find someone local to teach him piano, he found an online teacher. When he no longer attended drama class at KMS, he took classes with us, and eventually CYT-NI to expand his performing abilities.

That is the common thread in these three creative people.

From an early age they realized they loved being creative through performing.

They took this desire and started doing activities to help grow in the different areas they were interested in. All three acted upon their curiosity and wonder.

I had, or continue to have, a part in their creative process. 

It is truly a gift to work, or have worked, with these three young men.

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Have you ever had the gift of being able to mentor someone in an area they love?  Share your story with us.

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