Suburban students in Rockville Centre stage 'City Struggles'

A five-month project involving seven 4th grade students in Barbara Jay’s Hewitt Elementary School class culminated in the performance of an original play that delighted the school’s 4th, 5th and 1st graders on June 7.

The students wrote, directed, staged and performed “ City Struggles,” as an extra challenge to their everyday curriculum. The play is about a single father who loses his job. His three children and two friends try to help him earn money so that they can afford their apartment. The play poses the question: Will they survive the rough times in New York City? In the photo’s top row, from left, are Pierce Fine who played the father and doubled as stage manager and Jackson Modico — the son, who also designed the set.

In the bottom row, from left, are Julia Baxley, a daughter in the show as well as its director; Zoe Roman, cast as one of the friends, who doubled as producer; Danielle Barrere, another friend and the show’s supervisor and Katherine Sultzer, a daughter in the show who also was its costume designer.