As a child, Latacha Beck got a taste of theater in elementary school and high school plays. She was hooked.

Last summer, Beck wanted to enroll her own children in acting or theater classes, only to find there weren’t any being offered. So, at the urging of a woman she met at school, she approached Albert Lea Community Education and put her own passion for theater to work.

She taught her first introduction to acting class in the summer and has also offered it this fall.

In the class, kids learn how to shed their inhibitions onstage and how to adapt quickly to a variety of situations. The class teaches basic acting techniques: stage directions, voice projection, role adaptations and improvisation.

The work of the students in the class will come to fruition Monday. They’ll present a performance of excerpts from “Little Women” at 7 p.m. in the Hawthorne Elementary School gym. Admission to the program is free and the public is welcome.

“It gives them a chance to show the skills that they’ve learned and remember their lines,” Beck said. “They’ll demonstrate movement, costume and design.”

The students got into the program for a variety of reasons. Most who were in the fall session had already taken the summer class. At the end of the summer session, the class presented “Beauty is a Beast.”

Raelin Bizjak said she first tried the class in the summer. “I like acting and the summer was really fun,” she said. “I wanted to do this again.”

Maisie Holmberg also got hooked on acting after the summer class.

Jessica Weiland also took the class again this fall because it was so much fun the first time. Her sister, Natalie, echoed her sentiments.

“I want to continue again after this,” she said.

Anna Boettcher wanted to learn more about acting, and her sister, Katie, said it was fun trying new things. She’ll be back for the next class, she added.

Beck’s own daughters, Katrina and Tatyana, are in the class, too. Katrina said she likes to act and would rather do that than stay home.

Said Tatyana, “Acting comes easy to me. I can easily change personalities.”

Beck said Community Education will offer the class again starting Feb. 1. In that class, the students will produce “The Wizard of Oz” and present it on March 29. For registration information, call Community Education at 379-4834.

Beck also writes plays and plans to eventually get her degree in theater from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

“Directing has to be a passion,” she said. “It’s something I really enjoy.”