It took weeks of planning, primping and perfecting, and finally culminated in a pint-sized, original performance of “Once Upon a Mouse.”

The School Age Care program at NAS Whidbey hosts an 11-week adventures unlimited day camp each year that is open to all community children who have successfully completed kindergarten and not yet entered seventh grade.

This year’s camp theme revolves around the wonderful world of Disney. Weekly learning units have included “The Art of Animation,” “The Magic Carpet,” “The Four Mouseketeers” and “Enchanted Forest.”

Halfway through camp, the subject matter of week five, July 18 through 22, was all about “Once Upon a Mouse.” The camp and its theme are part of a larger tool to teach children to explore new ideas and adventures.

“Our primary goal, the one thing that we want every child to take away, is to instill imagination,” said School-Age Care Director Cynthia Fletcher.

Guest Artistic Director Sharon Erickson, a music educator at Olympic View Elementary, guided children through auditions, blocking, rehearsals, music and more to get the performance ready for the stage.

Erickson says she enjoys taking the time to produce and direct the performance.

“It’s so rewarding to participate in this camp. Myself and other art educators can work with them during the school year, but this experience allows children to continue to use their musical skills during their summer break.”

The continued education was well worth it. The star mice, Myron and Buttons (better known in their everyday lives as Joshua Pearcy and Olivia Meyer), along with a colorful cast of mouse villagers, enchanted trees, cave dwellers, mouseketeers and the queen and her court stole the show. The story follows the bookish Myron and his trusty sidekick Buttons through Myron’s quest to become a . The friends venture through a trio of bully mice, trees that prey on travelers and cave dwellers who speak in riddles and rhymes.

When Myron and Buttons finally arrive at the queen’s court, they must meet three requirements: cleverness, loyalty and true courage. Despite their small stature, the duo continually prove on their journey that they are worthy of Mouseketeer status.

Enchanted trees, although intimidating at first, with their gnarled and twisted branches, were afraid of Myron’s display of courage: “Trees! Get back! This mouse is not yours today!” In a reversal of roles, the intimidators become the intimidated and the trees set the pair free.

Searching for shelter for the night, Buttons discovers that the cave dwellers desire an answer to their riddling rhymes. Myron and Buttons finish the dwellers’ chant with the clever response: “Courage true must always be to help another, and not just me.” The cave dwellers are so impressed with their bravery that they grant the mice safe shelter.

Throughout their trip, Myron and Buttons never abandon each other, consistently putting themselves in danger to protect the other and never giving up faith. In the end, they are both appointed to the Order of the Royal Mouseketeers, proving that, despite what others around them may have thought, they are two of the bravest mice in the land.

The finale, a boisterous rendition filled with 133 voices, was the highlight of the show for Fletcher. “Just hearing all those children sing ‘Watch as We Walk on Our Way’ was pretty amazing,” she said. “It showed the kids that there is such strength in numbers, when they’re surrounded by friends. It gave them a chance to say, ‘Look at what I’m doing… Look where I’m going and how far I’ve come.’”

They’ve come a long way indeed. Before the week began, many of the kids had never performed in a play. Many had never gotten the chance to take a performing arts class. Because of increasingly higher standards focused on learning the basics, art often gets left behind. This camp and week of performance gave the children first-hand experience and their imaginations have caught fire.

In the last week, they’ve become directors, choreographers and writers, penning their own plays, dance moves and song lyrics. “At the beginning of camp, some of the campers were saying that they couldn’t draw,”

Fletcher noted. “But art is very forgiving; individual interpretation is wrapped up in its definition. Draw three circles and you’ve just created Mickey Mouse, it’s that simple. Now, they’re coming to me with their own comic strips, all sorts of artwork; they’ve been inspired.”

That inspiration is still in full swing. The camp continues through Sept. 2, when the program culminates with a week-long Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. For more information on the adventures unlimited day camp or any before and after school programs, please contact the School-Age Care program at (360) 257-0889.