January 17, 2008

SCHOOL SCENEin Almaden Valley

Pioneer students to present ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’

Pioneer High School’s drama department will present the play “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” on Jan. 24, 25 and 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the school’s new Performance Arts Center at 1290 Blossom Hill Road.

The play’s three major roles feature Thomas Bowring, who will play R.P. McMurphy (the role made famous by Jack Nicholson; Chief Bromden will be portrayed by Andrew Terkelsen; and Claire Hein will play Nurse Ratched. David Danning, Peter Spoelstra, Kyle Plum, Jazzie Morris and Britni Grellman will act the remaining leads.

In fact the only adult involved with the play is director and teacher Steve Dini. Students from the drama department are taking care of everything else from lights and sound to scenery, props and all other backstage activities.

“I toned down the language and softened some of the themes,” said Dini, who added that the play presents “tough subject matter.” But I kept a lot of the original power of the play without the profanity and other things that are inappropriate for high school.”

Auditions began in October, with practice starting toward the middle of the month. Forty students auditioned for the 18 roles, and while the majority of play practice was directly after school, since the winter break the students have been working after school and into the evenings.

Tickets for the play are available at the Performing Arts Center and cost $10 for adults and $5 for students and seniors over age 65. Seating is all general admission.

Bethany Valderrama wins contest at Simonds

Logo contest winners for Simonds Elementary School’s spring auction are pictured here. From the left are Roy Blume, Sanah Shah, Bethany Valderrama, Calvin Nguyen, Andrew Jiang and Janice Samuels, principal.
Bethany Valderrama’s winning artwork.

Simonds Music and Technology Foundation held a logo contest for students to create a logo supporting the annual Spring Auction theme, The Wild, Wild West. Fifth grader Bethany Valderrama won first place and a $25 Barnes and Noble gift card.

Students receiving honorable mention for their artwork included Sanah Shah, Roy Blume, Calvin Nguyen, and Andrew Jiang.

Valderrama’s artwork will be displayed on all auction marketing material, the bidders’ program and the auction promotion display board on school campus.

The Simonds Music and Technology Foundation will host its annual Spring Auction on Saturday, March 8 at The ARC in Willow Glen. Foundation volunteers are collecting auction items now. To donate to the Simonds Auction, contact Gina Tsouris (gina@tsouris.com). Tickets, $60 per person now or $75 per person after Feb. 15, are on sale now. To purchase tickets to the auction, contact Janet LaValley (jemsmac@comcast.net).

Holy Spirit School participates in the National Geographic Bee

For the 20th year, the National Geographic Society is holding the National Geographic Bee for students in the fourth through eighth grades. Holy Spirit School this year crowned a school champion for the annual bee from 10 contestants, who are winners of the classroom competitions from fifth through eighth grades.

After the students battled it out over several rounds of competition, just two remained to enter the championship round. The questions were tough and required a thorough knowledge of United States and world geography.

This year’s champion is eighth grader Matthew Foster with seventh grader, Tommy Baer, runner-up in a very close championship round. The winning question was: “India borders two landlocked countries to the north. Name one of them.” (The correct answers were: Nepal and Bhutan).

Foster moves on to the next round where he will take a written test to qualify for the State Bee in April, where he will be eligible to move on to compete in the national championship, win a college scholarship and a trip in May to Washington, DC to compete.

Edenvale Elementary celebrates Adopt-A-College Program anniversary

In the past 20 years, Adopt-A-College has awarded scholarships to former Edenvale students who have graduated from high school and want to go to college. To date, it has awarded 428 scholarships totaling approximately $246,500.

The largest event to raise money for college scholarships and to bring the community together is the organization’s annual pancake breakfast. As far as Adopt-a-College program officials are aware, Edenvale is the only elementary school in the United States that promises a scholarship to students who graduate from our sixth grade, finish high school and go on to college,.

The 20th annual pancake breakfast is Saturday, March 8 at Edenvale Elementary School from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. There will be door prizes, raffles and entertainment, featuring the Oak Grove High School Jazz Band, Edenvale students and more.

To make a donation to the program, mail a check to Edenvale School at 285 Azucar Ave., San Jose, CA 95111, or contact Tina O'Hara at (408) 227-7060, x205.

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