You've been working on a semester drama produc tion for weeks. Suddenly, the night before semesters start, you find yourself in the hospital. You've been in a car accident and are unable to take your tests and finish your projects.
That's exactly what happened to 1992 FHS graduate John Bertram his senior year of high school. The tests in all of his classes had to be made up - all except drama. Bertam's drama teacher, David Hashley, excused him from the test.
Bertram remembers Hashley telling him: "It is more important to take care of yourself right now."
Bertram said that because of all of Bertram's hard work and accomplishments during the semester Hashley felt that he didn't need to make up his test. Little did Hashley know that Bertram would return five years later to direct a show of his own at FHS.
"It was my hope," said Hashley, that he would return to FHS and get involved with the drama program again. "He was in every show that he could be in at FHS - at least nine."
Now, Bertram has returned to FHS to complete his final exam. The next FHS drama production, Arthur Miller's The Crucible, will be directed by Bertram, who has since graduated from MSU and competed in the American Regional College Theater Festival. The play was written in the 1950s about the Salem witch trials in the late 1600s. In the past few shows in the FHS drama department, Bertram has been involved with lighting.
The FHS drama department "is a wonderful facility," said Bertram. "I wanted to return for one last time."
"I searched and searched for a play that had a large cast and was very serious in drama and literary quality," he said. "The Crucible began to haunt me. It became more than an interest, but a need to do it."
Bertam's first FHS show, directed by English teacher George Cowan, was JB, a biblical story about Job.
Cowan "really pushed me and made me find an inner self I never knew I had," said Bertram.
Although Bertram was involved in many drama shows, his best memory comes from his last high school performance.
"At the last high school drama production É we were sitting in quiet time," said Bertram. "We were all seniors and very emotional; we had to hold the show an extra five minutes because we had to redo our makeup from the tears."
Bertram went to MSU in Bozeman on a full-ride Presidential Scholarship, "the highest award that anyone can receive from MSU," said Bertram. Each year only 20 such scolarships are given in Montana. While in college, Bertram spent one year abroad in The Netherlands studying set design.
Recently he was involved in the American Regional College Theater Festival. He competed in scene design and received a meritorious achievement award for scene design. Many colleges have asked Bertram to come and work for their schools and they would pay for his graduates degree. University of Ohio, Penn State, University of Arizona and Arizona State are just a few of the schools.
The first-place winner has their work displayed in the John F. Kennedy Center. Bertram was the runner up and according to Hashley, "Even though he didn't receive first, his work was highly acclaimed by schools and staff by offering him the ability to be part of their staff."