Orientation at Andover is filled with little rites of passage: decorating dorm rooms, meeting advisors, and getting lost on the way to Commons. However, few traditions capture the school’s ethos quite like the CaMD Power Plays. Each year, a group of students known as the Power Players take the stage during orientation to perform short skits that blend comedy and sincerity, with a goal of easing new students into Andover’s culture of empathy, inclusion, and support.
“The purpose of the power plays is to show the new freshmen how you’re encouraged to act in a new setting and to show how freshman year isn’t actually that daunting and that it’s going to be okay and to have fun. It’s basically just to encourage them to not stress and meant to help them get oriented in a new environment,” said Maya Tomilinson ’28.
These performances aren’t thrown together at the last minute. Power Players arrive on campus days before their peers, spending hours writing and rehearsing skits that encompass topics of friendship, identity, and asking for help. For the cast, it’s all about community—uniting lowers, uppers, and seniors in a shared project.
“[I liked] getting to hang out with a lot of different people from a lot of different grades. I feel like the cast was pretty diverse, and it was just a lot of fun to be able to hang out with friends that I’ve known before and new friends as well […] 10 out of 10 experience, I’d say,” said Tomlinson.
What sets the Power Plays apart is the authenticity of the skits. Power Players often draw from their own experiences to offer new students advice in an intimate yet humorous way. This transparency between the cast and the audience helps the lessons land more effectively than if delivered through a speech or presentation.
“The point of the CaMD skits was to bring awareness to diversity, how it looks in the social, academic, and just overall wellness and trying to help that message come across a freshman in a way that seems a bit more interactive than rather just one big presentation…we were able to use examples that we’ve encountered in our own life and make hypotheticals to make that message clear,” explained Phillip Molina ’28.
For new students in the audience, the Power Plays were both entertaining and eye-opening. Some were struck by the emphasis on equity and empathy, topics that may have not always been placed in the spotlight at their previous schools.
“I thought it was a really unique and warm welcome to have equity and really important topics covered so early into my time at Andover, because at my old school, that wasn’t something that was talked about at all. I think having it be so central and forward was very welcoming and it kind of set the tone for what type of community Andover is,” said Gabi Tinoco ’28.
Others found the show realistic and relatable. Fatima Bah ’29, a new junior, pointed to a lunchtime skit as her favorite. Though the scenario was simple, the resolution to the challenge at hand underscored the value of community.
“It was really interesting. It was about kids having lunch, and they weren’t expressing their problems. At the end, they finally did, and I liked how it showed they were all together. There were also parts where people were talking to themselves, which showed how people hide their feelings a lot. I really liked all the skits,” said Bah.
As new students settle into their first term here at Andover, some imagine themselves joining the Power Players in the future. For Tinoco, the possibility is worth considering, ultimately serving as a way to continue the cycle of storytelling, reassurance, and support.
“I would maybe [consider being a Power Player]…I think it is a really important thing, especially here. I think I would definitely consider it, because I do value those things a lot personally, and I’d want to help keep making sure that it’s as important as it is right now in the future,” said Tinoco.
