Famous Actress Sparks Writing Extravaganza!

A famous actress stepped offstage away from the bright lights and panning cameras for awhile to engage seventh graders at Charity Middle School. Mrs. Irene Santiago amused students by sharing information about her life, her career, and her insights.

Mrs. Santiago, a native of Puerto Rico, depicted her impoverished upbringing in a small Utah town. She vividly described the dirt floors, the lack of available potable water, and the seemingly constant negativity that surrounded her as a youngster. She claims that all of these elements, coupled with the strong support of her mother, helped to mold her current success.

And the current successes of her career are abundant! Her work is eclectic; it includes television shows and commercials, skits, voiceover recordings, and radio commercials. Mrs. Santiago plays a lead character on the popular Disney television show, High School Musical . She has made appearances on television shows like Touched By An Angel and Felicity .

Mrs. Santiago revealed several secrets behind some of the successful commercials in which she acted. Students are now utilizing her secrets to write commercials! Mrs. Santiago will critique the work, which will elicit revisions and allow students to produce novel commercials!

Mrs. Santiago believes that the most important lessons in life are following your dreams and not taking things personally. In her words, "Someone, somewhere will like your ideas; someone, somewhere won't like your ideas; and someone, somewhere will want to hire you for your ideas!".

written by Joshua Hunter

Ms. Janice P. Wynn, Principal

Ms. Sherry Jones, Assistant Principal

1333 West Charity Road, Rose Hill, NC 28458

(910) 289-3323