Headlines don’t sell papers, newsies sell papers. Or at least, they did during the newsboys’ strike of 1899, the inspiration behind the 1992 Disney movie musical Newsies.

The Brown County High School Theater summer camp is set to perform their production of Newsies Jr. on Saturday in the high school theater. Their first show is scheduled for noon and their second at 3 p.m.

The summer camp started on July 15 and ends on Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day.

Director Johnny Elmore said that the camp began by auditioning all 35 students in attendance and assigning them roles. Out of the 35 students, six kids came from other surrounding areas like Bloomington, Columbus and Indian Creek.

“We get new kids every year,” Elmore said. “Today I saw kids who had grown three inches since I had seen them last. It’s nice to see how to grow or progress and what they have been up to. This school has a big traditional theater. Everyone I have talked to who has been a part of it in the past speaks highly about it. Also, the middle schoolers will be at the high school one day and it’s nice seeing how they’ve grown and progressed through theater. It’s neat seeing parents whose kids love theater. It has to be a worry about what their kids are doing in school these days. The kids who like the arts are grounded. I like the fact that the tradition continues with the theater. There are less kids coming to school, but the arts and theater departments are doing well. It’s fun seeing them reading their scripts,” Elmore said. “I announce the parts, they go through and read their lines. There’s always this fun thing that they do, and it’s been like this forever, but once the parts are announced they love counting how many lines they have and comparing them with their friends.”

The summer camp is in its third consecutive year at the high school generally for ages 8 to 17. Elmore said the registration for the event was open since January. While there is no live orchestra to practice with, the kids are expected to learn their lines, songs and choreography along with a backtrack for the full length play within the two weeks.

“It isn’t easy,” Elmore said. “It’s a little bit of mayhem, but it comes together in the end. We have a lot of support from the town and families. That definitely helps out. We try to get everything put together in a week, by the first Friday (July 19) I will run the show. It’s rough and most of the cast might not be off book by then, but we still run the full thing and touch it up as we go. The day before open we have a dress rehearsal with the tech, wardrobe, props and sets. The sets are being built currently. It’s very energetic doing things with kids. They’re singing and dancing and it’s a very heavy dance show.”

Elmore said that during the final dress rehearsal on Friday around 1 p.m. they are set to have a merchant’s night, where local business owners can bring a friend and watch the show for free.

“We encourage people from town to come see the show,” Elmore said. “We try to get the word out. They like having an audience. We have a built in audience with parents and grandparents but we still live in such an artsy community and would like to get the word out to other people in the area.”

Tickets for the Saturday shows are $5 for students and $10 for adults, they can be purchased at the door or on the facebook page (www.facebook.com/BrownCountyHStheatre).