If you ask retired Skaneateles High School English teacher Ted Davenport, 1990 SHS graduate Dustin Czarny was just an ordinary student.

“Dustin was pretty much average, nothing spectacular ... he was a bit of a hell-raiser,” Davenport said of his former pupil.

Apparently, though, time and age have had a profound effect on Czarny, because 17 years later, the tables have turned.

Czarny is directing Davenport, along with two other Skaneateles residents, in the Sherman Edwards musical �,” which runs through July 7.

The play, produced by Syracuse company Appleseed Productions, tells the story of the Second Continental Congress and its signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“We have cast members from Skaneateles, Marcellus, Auburn ... all over, really, and everybody's worked extremely hard,” Czarny said from his Syracuse home last week.

In addition to Davenport, who plays Rhode Island congressman Stephen Hopkins, the show stars Skaneateleans Paul Gundersen as Benjamin Franklin and Bernard Kaplan as Delaware delegate Caesar Rodney.

Davenport made quite an impression on him in high school, Czarny said.

“I took his creative writing class when I was a senior and loved it,” Czarny recalled. “He really taught me to use my imagination.”

Czarny uses that creativity to great effect in directing the musical, which has a 27-member cast. Because of the period costumes and vocal requirements, it is considered difficult to produce.

In addition to staging the play, Czarny is responsible for the set design, which includes a large calendar that counts down the days leading up to Independence Day. (Ironically, the production will not be presented on July 4.)

This is not the first time Czarny has directed his former instructor. The pair first worked together on a production of Shakespeare's “Much Ado About Nothing” in 2005 and have since become friends.

“Oh, Dustin's a lot better director than (he was) a student,” Davenport, who taught at SHS from 1968 to 1995, said with a laugh. “He's really concerned with us actors and our comfort, and about what the audience will see.

“Above all, I think he's adult enough now, and enough of a family man, to be truly goal-oriented. He works toward a goal he sets for himself, and he usually reaches it.”