By Braxton Rickert
Times-News correspondent
teens20@thetimesnews.com

Illustration by Holly Damman / Times-News correspondent

“Appreciate life and those around you and make sure that what you deem important is important,” said Becky Gilbert, head of marketing and public relations at Cornelius Muller Productions LLC. That is the focus of the new movie “Find a Way” being made by the production company. They want to show that in the face of tragedy, there is an opportunity to realize what really matters.

 ”Find a Way” is a story about Billy “Smiley” Cane, played by Cranston Johnson, whose tragic death affects his family and the families of others in his community.

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 Commentary by Rebecca Johnson
Special to the Times-News

Rebecca Johnson, center, has participated in dance classes at the Burlington Academy of Dance & Arts since the age of 3. / Brian Sasser

Burlington Academy of Dance & Arts (BADA) has been a place that our family could call home for the past 22 years. Five sisters have grown up dancing here since the age of 3 until they graduated high school. This year will be bittersweet not only for me, because I am graduating, but also for my whole family because I will be the last one who will be dancing with BADA.

Luckily, we will be leaving at a special time in the history of the studio — its 25th birthday celebration. All of the BADA dancers look forward to May with great anticipation for the year-end performances and this one will be especially memorable for us and our audience.

In addition to our 25th celebration performances that feature jazz, modern, tap, ballet and some special guest dancers at 7 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday at McCrary Theatre, we will be presenting one of our favorite ballet productions — “Cinderella” at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. May 27 at McCrary Theatre on the campus of Elon University. It has been BADA’s tradition to produce this classic ballet every five years.

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 Commentary by Rachel Anne Spencer
Times-News correspondent
teens20@thetimesnews.com

This time of year, many churches are busy choosing or creating Vacation Bible School (VBS) programs, summer camps are gearing up and parents are looking for fun ways to keep the kids busy. Many are planning for lots of activities and crafts. Churches, day care centers and summer camps have catalogs of “ready-made” programs or curriculum options that include craft ideas, as well as loads of pre-packaged craft kits available for purchase.

I’d like to challenge you all to take the time to investigate using recycled items for your crafts and activities. Show kids fun ways to reuse items that would normally be thrown away; hopefully, you’ll get them thinking about other ways to be good stewards of their Earth. Plus, using recycled items can save money by reducing the amount of supplies purchased.

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