The musicals were directed by Sandra Meerdink and Amanda Dilts, both teachers at Robert H. Jackson Elementary School.

Rats! was written by Dave and Jean Perry and is based on the poem “The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Joust! was written by John Jacobson and Roger Emerson.

Both musicals were full of catchy tunes like “Ain’t it great to be a Rat” and “Mighty Medieval Men.” More than 80 students in third through sixth grades took part in the production.

Rats! leading roles were played by Robbie Culpepper as the mayor, Tyler Lundgren as the Pied Piper, Kennedy Nelson as Quigley and Mhyah Goon as Pennywinkle. Narrators in Rats included sixth graders Alexis Darling, Lucy Moore and Annika Roushey. The Rats were led by Summer Winters, Keturah Meerdink, Genevieve Bussman and Toby Steward.

Damsels and Ladies singing ”That’s the Way It’s Going to Be” during a performance of Joust at Robert H. Jackson Elementary School.

In Joust!, King Arthur was played by Colten Signorino and Tristan Stormer performed the role of Merlin. They were supported onstage by the Mighty Medieval Men played by Robbie Culpepper, Ethan Ecklof, Callen Lindberg, Tyler Lundgren, Zander Seiberg, Toby Steward, Scott Pelham and Kam Smith. Damsels were played by Mhyah Goon, Chloe Komenda, Luna Sadowski, Josephine Vaughn and Summer Winters.

The fourth grade students played their recorders during the song “We’re Making Music” which also included a surprise performance on the bagpipes by Wes Bossman, who played the King of Scotland.