Editor’s note: Helen Byrd’s feature was originally intended to be a Saturday edition feature, but we hope running it early will encourage readers to attend her students’ productions this weekend.

When Helen Byrd of Tryon was little, she wrote plays and directed them for the neighborhood kids.

Now, as a grownup, she directs an annual elementary school play in Hendersonville, N.C.

“I’ve been doing this for nine years now,” she said. “When I retire after next year, I’m not sure anyone will want to take it on.”

This year’s production will be Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, with some tricky twists, told as a fractured fairy tale. Byrd made many special decisions, such as choosing four students to be huntsmen, instead of only one.

She also found professional artists to work with her on set design, sound and lighting.

The shows will be open to the public at 7 p.m. tonight, Friday, Oct. 25, and Saturday, Oct. 26 at Hendersonville Elementary School.

“People who never have been to our show before are really impressed with the caliber of the performances,” Byrd said. “The children absolutely love it, and they are so enthusiastic and work so hard. They deserve to be proud of themselves. We have a year-round school, so there’s three whole months of rehearsals from July to October.”

Byrd’s work on the play begins in June, with blocking and staging decisions. The cast consists of third to fifth grade students, and some of the students have been performing in the shows for the past three years.

“They start as third graders, who’ve never been on stage before, and they come back in fourth grade as experts. By fifth grade, they can show the other kids how to do it,” she said. “Through the years, I’ve had fifth graders cry on my shoulder because it’s their last year to do the shows.”

Byrd also works full-time as a second-grade teacher, and she says schoolteachers often work more than a regular workweek. The show adds an extra stretch.

“From the time the show begins, I work 12-hour and 14-hour days,” she said.

Theater and teaching have been Byrd’s twin passions for many years. Her students in the second-grade classroom learn all kinds of fascinating things, like how bones function in the human body, and the process of life as baby birds hatch from eggs. Every month features an emphasis on a different children’s author, such as Marc Brown, author and illustrator of the Arthur books, or Peggy Parish, the South Carolina writer and teacher who wrote the Amelia Bedelia books.

“As a reading specialist, I’m always looking for ways to integrate quality children’s literature into my content area lessons, too,” she said. “I think that reading really comes alive for children when they can focus on one author and one theme. It’s a treat for parents, too, when their children ask for books by specific authors whose works they already know they will enjoy.”

Her personal favorite is Norman Bridwell, author of the books about that big red dog, Clifford. She has visited his house and studio in Martha’s Vineyard, and he told her about the original inspiration for his Emily Elizabeth character.

“My husband and I have become good friends with Norman Bridwell and his wife, Norma,” she said. “My class makes calls on a conference line to him one time every year now when we’re studying his books, and he draws an original pen and ink drawing for us annually.”

She and her husband brought Tryon mugs and postcards showing the town’s symbolic mascot, Morris the Horse. Bridwell responded by drawing a picture of Clifford, the big red dog, holding Morris the Horse, and Emily Elizabeth riding Morris.

“He drew a picture of Clifford reading The Tryon Daily Bulletin, too,” Byrd said.

Byrd and her husband, Jeff, co-owned the newspaper from 1989 to 2010. When they first took ownership, Byrd knew it was a great family decision, but she thought her heart might burst from sadness.

She had four classes to go in Richmond, Va., to complete her second master’s degree, and she couldn’t give up all that time, energy and hope. So her husband brought her two children, Katie, then 5, and David, only 3, to Tryon. Her mother-in-law pitched in to help him, and for those first few months, Byrd worked as hard as she could to finish up her classes fast and move to Polk County.

“It was so hard at first,” she said. “I missed my family so much. I’d hold the children’s toys and cry, but I couldn’t give up all my work when I was so close to finishing that degree. I visited here as much as I could.”

Katie’s 29 now, and David’s 27. Byrd has two master’s degrees, one in special education, completed in 1980, and the other in elementary education, completed in 1990. She also has National Board certification, and completed the recertification process as well.

“I do have two master’s degrees, but believe me, getting that National Board certification was tougher than anything,” she said.

The Byrds moved into the Freeman House, a historically significant home built in 1906 by James Freeman. They added a full-length front porch and stained glass windows.

In October 2007, the Byrds opened up their home to host the Grace Foothills Community Church. Together with members of nine Polk County families, they founded the church, and chose leadership by pastor Scott Stewart.

“I had prayed for a church home, and before you know it, I had a church in my home!” Byrd said. “God literally answered that prayer.”

The church met at Byrd’s home for more than a year, but since has started meeting at the Tryon Theater. The group has grown from 27 people to more than 150 people.

Byrd has participated regularly in productions at Tryon Little Theater and the Flat Rock Playhouse, and she hopes to participate in many more after retirement, too.

“With work and raising the children, I only have been able to do one show a year,” she said. “I always enjoy the Tryon Little Theater so much.”

Byrd also plans to keep teaching after retirement, while continuing her faith activities and theater work.

“It is my dream in life to become fluent in Spanish and to teach English to adults and children living in Honduras,” she said. “I did a mission trip eight years ago, and it meant so much to me that I have sponsored girls in the orphanage, La Fuenta de Vida, the Fountain of Life, ever since then.”

Byrd will take Spanish classes at Blue Ridge Community College and then spend time teaching English to people to whom language learning could make a life-changing difference.

“I was blessed with the gift of being able to teach others anything I know,” she said. “I’m really good at English, so it’s my goal to be able to give the gift of our language to others.”