By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
HODGDON — Every spring, seniors at Hodgdon High School must complete an extensive project that involves spending time working with a mentor in whatever area that student chooses to focus.
“Every senior has an extensive project to do, which involves having a mentor,” explained teacher Nanette Nickerson-Mills. “They also have to do a visual presentation. They have to come up with a central theme and use that theme as their argument to prompt classmates into action or to make a change in their lives.”
Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
SENIOR PROJECT — Hodgdon High School Senior Sarah Scott completed her senior mentor project with the help of professional comedy writer/producer Mike Shoemaker.
So when it came time to start preparing for her project, Sarah Scott, the daughter of Kevin and Nancy Scott, knew she wanted to do something a little bit different. While her peers were focusing their energy on meeting with local nurses, police officers or forest rangers, Scott instead sought her mentor on the World Wide Web.
For her project, Scott chose the theme “Do major events affect comedy?” and reached out to Mike Shoemaker, a writer and producer for “Saturday Night Live” and “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” television shows.
Scott approached Shoemaker through the social media site “Twitter” and asked if he would be willing to participate in her project. “Saturday Night Live” is one of Scott’s favorite shows and working with Shoemaker on her class project was a dream come true.
“He was very polite and helpful,” Scott said. “I asked him my questions through Twitter and he was always quick to get back to me.”
“The fact that he (Shoemaker) was willing to do this was pretty neat,” Nickerson-Mills added.
In her presentation, Scott discussed how comedy is often used during serious times to alleviate tension, but must also be gentle, reassuring and predictable.
“In serious events, humor works best as an opener,” she explained.
Hurricane Sandy was one topic Scott addressed with Shoemaker.
“There was nothing funny about Hurricane Sandy’s devastation, but Chris Christie (Governor of New Jersey) gave us someone to joke about because the audience knew we liked him and he liked us,” Shoemaker wrote in one of his “tweets” to Scott.
Based on her presentation, Scott concluded that major life events do in fact affect comedy.
“Comedians are more careful with their jokes and more respectful,” she said. “They joke to lift people’s spirits. They want to cheer people up in dark times.”
