Young Americans rocked the house in a Turn Up the Music outreach workshop and performance last week in O'Neill.
More than 100 students from O’Neill, Emmett, Ewing, Verdigre, Creighton, Inman, Page and Spencer joined 40 Young Americans in the O’Neill Community Center and the O’Neill High School gymnasium for this event. Mark Vavra, a 2012 O’Neill High School graduate and a Young American, served as technical director and a teacher for this powerful show. The Young Americans taught grades 3-12 a one-hour program with singing, dancing and acting. Throughout this experience, students found their voices, learned to dance and act and developed teamwork, respect and a love of all things fine arts. Jonathan Jaques, vocal music instructor at O’Neill High School, said, “The Young Americans have a way of reaching each and every student. They make them feel important, independent and proud of their talents and accomplishments. Nobody else offers a learning and performing experience like this workshop.” After two days of work and play, the students and their talented teachers took the stage for a Broadway-caliber song and dance performance. The first 45 minutes featured the Young Americans in a high-powered performance as a gift to the students and the audience. The second act featured all of the students along with the Young Americans performing the show they had learned in the two-day workshop. They performed music from across a wide-range of decades, movies, hip hop, classical choral music and finally songs from the hit musical, "The Lion King." The concert concluded with a gift of a gold record plaque and a donation of $1,090 to the O'Neill music department from the Young Americans. The students' performance can be viewed here. |