When her daughter, Anne McCoy, started teaching at Oakland Elementary 16 years ago, little did Paulette Rogerson know it would be the start of her own long association with the school.

Rogerson said she has been a member of the drama group, The Assembly, at her church, Central Baptist in Norfolk, for “many, many years.”

“I started acting, then I moved to writing and also directing,” the 71-year-old said this week, speaking via phone from her Virginia Beach home.

But her involvement in the dramatic arts started even earlier than that. According to an online profile, she debuted onstage as a third-grader, though many years passed before a church Christmas play would resurrect the interest.

Rogerson has written sacred and secular material, including plays, skits and monologues. She wrote her first play for Oakland’s annual dinner theater after being called into service by its music teacher, Rena Long, shortly after her daughter started there.

“I don’t know how it came up in conversation, but Anne mentioned my name and that I write plays,” Rogerson said.

“One thing led to another, and Rena Long asked me if I would write one for them. I thought I would give it a try, and the rest is history.”

On Thursday, third through fifth-graders at Oakland are set to perform for the public the third or fourth — she isn’t entirely certain which one it is — of six plays Rogerson has written for them.

It’s called “The Cow’s Tail.”

“The only thing tying them (together) would be something humorous,” Rogerson said of the half-dozen plays. “I try to involve children” in the plots.

Students had to audition for the theater café play, which has become an annual tradition. They participate either onstage or as part of the crew.

The show is set to start at the school on Godwin Boulevard at 6 p.m. Tickets cost $7 and include a box meal from Chick-fil-A. Show-only tickets are selling for $2.

Meals are only available for pre-sold tickets. For more information, contact the school at 923-5248.

Rogerson said she has missed only two shows in all these years. “It’s amazing what young children can do,” she said. “I know Rena and her assistants put in a lot of legwork, and it pays off.”

The plays grew longer and longer as Rogerson kept writing them. The first one was 15 or 20 minutes, she said, and she believes the play to be performed this week is 20 to 25 minutes.

“I’m amazed that these plays have really been performed for this many years, frankly,” Rogerson added.