Whiz Kid: Megan Poole Stages Variety Show for Boy With Cerebral Palsy

Middle-school student Megan Poole is a whiz at using her passion to perform as the means for giving back, and in this case to help a boy with cerebral palsy, a condition that Poole herself has had since birth.

In Poole’s case, her condition is a mild case, but not so for Jeriel, the 4-year-old boy in whose cause Poole is staging a 40-member cast musical variety show at St. Andrews United Methodist Church in Brandon.

Poole has many theater credits — including this month’s Stagedoor Performing Arts production of “" — and is a student at the Progress Village Middle Magnet School of the Arts.

On April 16, from 2-4:30 p.m., Poole and Leah Jacoby, the variety show’s choreographer, will be bringing to the stage musical numbers from a host of favorite Broadway shows, including “Annie,” "Shrek the Musical,” "Jekyll and Hyde,” “Wicked,” "Addam's Family,” "Lion King,” “Dreamgirls” and more. Magician and comedian Vinnie Natale will be the emcee.

The show features 40 students from the Greater Brandon area and from as far away as Sarasota, where Poole also performs with Spotlight Performers. Included in the show are chorus students from Brandon Academy, Poole’s friends from school and community theater and Poole’s brother, Douglas.

“I like musical theater, I love it,” Poole said. “So when I said I wanted to have a show and donate the money to a kid with cerebral palsy or a cerebral palsy society, with free admission and donations accepted, everyone said it’s a great idea.”

Poole continues to battle the disease every day of her life.

“I have a mild case of cerebral palsy,” she said. “When you have cerebral palsy, it’s like having a stroke when you’re a baby and it affects your legs, your hands and your body.”

In Poole’s case, she knows she is more fortunate than most.

“Just when I dance, I can’t do certain thing other kids can do, but if I work at it, I can do it,” she said. “And if I’m at a park, I can’t walk as much without getting tired.”

Poole’s mother, Monica, said she and her husband, Michael, learned of the their daughter’s condition when Megan was still an infant.

“She was 18-months-old and she rolled instead of crawled and she was really late walking, and she dragged her right foot when she walked,” Monica Poole said.

Megan Poole works hard to overcome the effects of her condition and is extremely thankful that it has taken a much less severe toll on her life than it does for so many others.

So when her confirmation class got underway in October, and her St. Andrews teacher told the students they would need to perform a community service project, Megan Poole got the idea to help out a boy with cerebral palsy, a patient of Poole’s former physical therapist, Whitney Howard.

“He’s in a wheelchair, he can’t hold his head up properly, and he’s really, really smart,” Poole said.

And so in Megan’s mind the show must go on — with no admission charge but with donations accepted on behalf of Jeriel — and to raise awareness of the fight against cerebral palsy, a group of disorders that can involve brain and nervous system dysfunctions, such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing and thinking. 

As for Megan’s parents, they couldn’t be more proud.

“Good for her,” Michael Poole said, “because she wants to champion something that means a lot to her.”