Fruitvale: The Northwest Voice

Discovery Elementary "Picnic in the Park" huge success

On Thursday, April 24th, Discovery Elementary hosted its tenth annual Picnic In The Park next door to the school in Emerald Cove Park. This year, the hamburgers were provided by the traveling “In ‘N Out Burger” crew. The “In ‘N Out” crew was assisted by the Discovery student council and together they served over 600 hamburgers, chips and sodas. In addition, everyone received a beautifully decorated watermelon cookie from Cookies by Design. This annual event is special for the Discovery community as they have a chance to sit in the park and visit, play on the playground equipment and see old and new friends. The Discovery student council also provided three Jump Houses for the students’ enjoyment. For over two hours, the community relaxed in the park and reflected on the wonderful students who attend Discovery. Thanks to all who attended and helped with this wonderful event.

Well-behaved students rewarded with Swish, Jam dancers

Being on your best behavior can be a rewarding experience.

Students at Fruitvale Junior High School found out just how rewarding on Friday afternoon at the school’s annual “Good Behavior Rally,” which was held in the gym.

Swish, the mascot for the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Developmental League, was on hand along with three members of the Jam’s Dance Team – Amanda, Christine and Mandy. Swish and the dancers performed for the students, and then handed out Jam cheer sticks, souvenir towels and magnetic Jam schedules.

Fruitvale Junior High recognizes students who exhibit good behavior throughout the school year with the rally, which includes games and fun activities, along with a message from a special guest speaker, who encourages the students to continue to be on their best behavior at all times.

If your group would like to schedule an appearance by Swish, the Jam Dancers or any of the team’s players or coaches, you can contact the Jam at 714-4JAM (4526).

Christmas performance nice addition to Fruitvale's drama program

For the first time in recent memory, Fruitvale Jr. High School's drama class presented a holiday program.

Under the direction of Kerstin Davies, the 7th and 8th grade students performed acts from "Dr. Funk's Christmas Explosion" and "Billy Shakespeare's Christmas Extravaganza," written by Don Zoldis.

In years past, the school's drama class (that meets during the regular school day) performs during the Shakespeare Festival in Bakersfield and culminates the year with a spring musical held in their school's auditorium.

This year, however, Davies decided to add a Christmas program.

From the first scene, when 8th grader Jordyn Peery steals the show as one of Santa's elves, it is easy to forget that these are junior high students. With bold voices and well-rehearsed facial expressions, the actors and actresses appear much older, with polished talent that one would expect in a high school production.

In four acts, many of the students were responsible for more than one role, so countless hours of memorization and learning stage directions was mandatory.

The program was not without SNAFUs, however. One day before the performance, a lead actor became ineligible to perform. In his place, Sheldon Myers accepted the role of Santa in the first act and had just one day to memorize several lines.

During the first scene, the silly and overly spirited elf, "Sid" (played by Jordyn Peery), lost a pointy ear and had to carry on as if nothing had happened. In the second act, "The Christmas Tree Thief," Jaisyn Martin ran into trouble when the tree she was "stealing" broke in two pieces.

To their credit, the students conducted themselves as professionally as would any seasoned theater troupe. One actress, Marissa Leal, sang an acapella version of "Silent Night" during intermission, proving that these thespians are multi-talented.

Fruitvale Jr. High School is known for Science Fair, History Day and Math Day accomplishments, and they often win volleyball and basketball trophies, as well. After this performance, however, it should not be long before this California Distinguished School receives much deserved recognition for its drama program, too.

Columbia Elementary students place third in the nation at History Day

Seven students from Northwest public schools competed in National History Day which began Sunday and concluded June 14 at the University of Maryland against the best 2,100 participating students in the United States.

Results were announced June 14. Columbia Elementary School students Dylan Gonzales, Madison Olinger and Ricky Sottile competed against 87 other teams to place third in the junior group performance. The trio’s presentation was “Lasting Valor: The Triumphs and Tragedies of Vernon J. Baker.” Baker is the only living African American World War II hero to receive the Medal of Honor.

Fruitvale Junior High School student, Sarah Moore competed against a field of 91 competitors to place sixth in the Junior Documentary category. Her documentary was “The Iran Hostage Crisis: The Triumphs within the Tragedy.”

Other competitors included Fruitvale Junior High students Tanner Kelly and Nikhil Bhambi, whose presentation was “The V-2 Rocket: From Tragedy in Europe to the Triumph of Space Exploration.”

“The students worked extremely hard to prepare for this competition during the past seven months,” said Columbia Elementary principal Bill Jager. “I can’t say enough about their dedication, along with their parents who always supported them and our school. This is, indeed, a day to celebrate.”

Competing in the Senior Documentary was Centennial High School student Russell Reason, whose presentation was “Kingfish Lost his Crown: The Rise and Fall of Huey P. Long.”

Columbia Elementary and Fruitvale Junior High schools are part of the Fruitvale School District in Northwest Bakersfield. Centennial High School, also in Northwest Bakersfield, is part of the Kern High School District.

All of Bakersfield’s entrants had to first win at Kern County History Day, sponsored by the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office, and then win again at History Day in California in Long Beach to be eligible for the National History Day competition.

Endeavour and Chavez schools place at cheerleading competition

Endeavor and Chavez competed in the scholastic school cheer non-mount division of the Pep and Pageantry Arts Association of Central California (PPAACC) competition.

This competition was held at North High School on April 14 and finals were held at Stockdale High School on April 21. Congratulations to all the girls!

At finals 1st place went to Cesar Chavez Elementary School, 2nd place went to Mt. Vernon Elementary School and 3rd place went to Endeavour Elementary School.

Columbia cheerleaders at North High School

Columbia Elementary cheerleaders performed at the Pep and Pageantry Arts Association of Central California (PPAACC) cheerleading competition held at North High School on April 14.

Opportunity for parents to get connected with LIFE

The Fruitvale School District will be hosting an evening of early intervention for parents and children who are preschool through kindergarten ages. The program, Learning is Fun for Everyone, or LIFE, will be offered on Monday, May 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Columbia Elementary School, 703 Mondavi Way, and is open to all families from Columbia, Discovery, Endeavour, and Quailwood elementary schools.

The evening presentation will provide families with resources available in the community and at school such as free vision, hearing and dental screenings. Activity centers such as playdoh making, story telling, singing, bookmaking, mural painting, shaving cream finger painting and adventures with rice will be introduced to promote positive family time, interaction and readiness skills for school success.

A parent information center will give families additional information for school registration, immunizations, positive family activities, school readiness strategies, community resources and available programs.

This exciting evening will be free! Hot dogs, chips, and drinks will also be included for families that pre-register. Kids will have fun, families will have dinner on us, and parents will walk away with a multitude of ideas and activities for valuable summer time experiences.

We look forward to meeting present and future Fruitvale School District students, and to establishing positive communication and support with parents and families. For more information, call the Rhonda Nelson at 589-3830 extension 226.

Student safety, a priority at Endeavour

Northwest resident and crossing guard, Jerry Smith, often greets students going to and from school with a warm smile and friendly hello.

As students come to his crosswalk, Smith engages them in conversations about homework, new hair cuts and cool bicycles. Some students are too into their own conversations to hear his friendly, grandfather tone. But most respond with an excited hello back.

The retired Santa Fe Railroad worker said he loves his job as a crossing guard, even if it is just for a few hours a day. As he crosses students for Endeavour Elementary School, which is located just east of the busy intersection of Calloway Drive and Meacham Road in Northwest Bakersfield, Smith is constantly looking around for the kids and the oncoming traffic much as a mother hen might look out for her young.

For Smith, his No. 1 priority is the safety of his student walkers.

Sometimes, it can be challenging when you’re dealing with motorists who speed in a school zone, ignore the command to stop, or pay more attention to cell phones than to the road and student walkers, says Smith and fellow crossing guard Robert Schwulst.

“I think people are in too big of a hurry; they’re just not aware of where they’re at or they don’t care,” said Smith who crosses students at Starside Drive and Meacham Road while Schwulst helps schoolchildren at Main Plaza Drive and Meacham Road.

“People come around this bend like it’s the last lap of the Indy 500,” Smith said.

Many parents agree, saying that motorists are just in a hurry to get through the area and fail to slow down for the children.

Bakersfield Police officials, however, say they have no record of parents or school officials complaining of the traffic problems and urged parents to speak up if there is.

“As we receive information about a problem zone, we will assign people as manpower allows to deal with those complaints,” said BPD Public Information Officer Greg Terry.

Terry said the best way to raise concerns to BPD is to fill out a traffic complaint form online to the agency’s Web site by visiting: www.ci.bakersfield.ca.us/POLICE/traffic/traffic.htm

“That way they don’t have to wait through a phone call if they don’t have a lot of time,” Terry said.

Endeavour Elementary Principal Deanna Clarke added that a speeding problem had not been brought to her attention either.

But Smith said the problem is real and believes that many motorists go well above the posted speed limit of 35 mph for the neighborhood, and 25 mph for the school zone based on personal observations.

“I wouldn’t say everybody, but pretty close to it. It’s easy to do. I’ve done it myself. With these new cars, you look down and you’re going 55 and you don’t even realize it,” Smith said. “I’m not a bit bashful about hollering at them (motorists) to slow down because I don’t want to get the kids killed or me, for crying out loud.”

In an attempt to ease the traffic flow during pick up and drop off hours, Endeavour Elementary custodian Bob Gil sets up and monitors a valet area for parent drivers. The coned-off strip gives parents a place to pull over and prevents them from blocking traffic by opening their doors into oncoming traffic. Student valets open passenger doors and help their fellow students out of the car.

“We have these cones set up here and you’d think they’d slow down with kids getting out, but we’ll have people driving by here at 45 miles, 50 miles an hour,” he said.

Added Gil, “The safety of our students is our No. 1 thing. As people of the community, we want to make sure that our students are safe.”

So do the parents.

“Kids have to be careful about stepping off the curbs because they (motorists) don’t pay attention, and they don’t stop,” said Endeavour Elementary parent, Sherri Watson.

“It’s like we don’t have the right of way as a walking pedestrian anymore, especially the kids. With the cars sitting so high, it’s hard to see the kids, and, yes, we have a big problem with speeding here.”

The school often reminds students to not cross until a crossing guard has given the okay, according to principal Clarke.

Endeavour Elementary parent Dirk Hagoort said he’s witnessed many close calls with the crossing guards.

“I’ve watched our crossing guards nearly get squashed several times,” added Dana Paquette another Endeavour Elementary parent. “People don’t pay attention to the sign and don’t abide by the speed limit through here.”

Still, Smith said he wouldn’t give up his crossing guard role to any traffic violator.
His role is to protect the children.

And he likes that his job gets him out of the house and keeps him busy as his wife works during the daytime.

Working as a crossing guard “keeps me from getting depressed because I’m a people person and the kids are great,” Smith said. “I’ve met some good people, parents, too.”

A new twist on curbside takeaway

“Good morning, welcome to Discovery!”

It is 8 a.m. at Discovery Elementary School, and parents are dropping off their children during the morning rush. Instead of jockeying for parking spots or allowing students to dodge cars as they scramble from one side of the street to the other, drivers now enjoy the safety and efficiency of the school’s new valet drop-off, a program introduced this year by the Bakersfield Police Department.

What used to be a daily crush of traffic that resembled mall parking on the Friday after Thanksgiving has turned into a pleasant, almost leisurely assembly line of slow-moving SUVs and relaxed parents waving as they pull away from Discovery’s curb.

To alleviate the danger in leaving running cars unattended or, worse, the double parking of years past, Discovery now offers a curbside valet service to safely direct traffic, and students, in an efficient and timely manner.

Adult supervised fifth and sixth graders wearing orange or yellow vests greet cars that drive into the coned area designated for valet use. The attendents are ready to escort younger students onto campus, or, if no escort is needed, to open and close the car door in a professional manner.

“Before we close the door, we say, ‘Bye! Have a nice day!’” says Gabby Munoz, a fifth grader, who has been helping with the valet service for several months.

Munoz says that while approaching the car, she and the other valets have to be serious. “As soon as the car comes up, we’re all business,” she says. “Then, when the car leaves, we chill.”

Being “all business” stems from the safety class and test each volunteer must take before they can participate in the program.

“They have to apply and go through training with Officer Will (McNeal),” says Principal Mary Westendorf. “He stresses safety.”

Safety has been an issue at Discovery Elementary School since the burgeoning student population surpassed original projections.

“We have sixty-six parking spots for eight hundred students,” says Westendorf. “We don’t have adequate parking for this size of campus.”

Because the school is landlocked, she said, there is virtually no other means to create a safe environment for the morning rush. People were parking in every available spot, even in red zones.

In December, Westendorf decided to implement the curbside valet program. Since that time, several students have been eager for the added responsibility of getting to school early and being a dependable member of the valet team.

“It’s enjoyable,” says Bethany Geist, a sixth grader. “I just like helping. It’s fun for me.”

Fun means waking up earlier and getting to school before the campus opens. Valet attendents arrive at Discovery before 8 a.m. to don their safety vests and stand on the painted yellow line, ready for the first rush of cars.

They miss their morning recess, but they don’t seem to mind.

“Usually, before we started this, my mom didn’t bring me early,” claims Robert King, another fifth grader, who has been working as a valet since the program’s inception. “I’d be sleeping in more if I didn’t do this.”

Losing sleep and missing recess seem a considerable price to pay for elementary age students. However, according to Geist, the sacrifice is worth it. She enjoys her job.

“It’s not only for myself, it’s for other people, too. So, it makes me happy,” says Geist.

This type of civic-minded mentality is common at Discovery Elementary School.

Fifth graders Rylee and Paige Smith see the valet line as an opportunity to fill the coffers for the Gleaner’s food drive. The two girls, part of Discovery’s student council, used their morning recess one week to hold up signs encouraging people to make donations.

Valet attendents carried canned food donations from cars to the curb.

Curbside takeaway is a convenient method for parents to donate to the Gleaner’s food drive. It is also an effective method to deposit something of a more personal nature: their children.

Since the initiation of the valet program, parents no longer have to get out of the car to walk their students onto campus. Cars are not left unattended, and children no longer dash between traffic.

Instead, a happy and dependable group of vested, trained valet attendents ensures that early mornings at Discovery Elementary flow smoothly. They love their job and are happy to do it.

Endeavor Eagles bring it on!

The Endeavor Eagles cheerleaders were represented at Pep and Pageantry Arts Assocation of Central California (PPAACC) competition.

Fruitvale students win local Mathcounts competition

A team of Mathletes from Fruitvale Junior High in Bakersfield has won the local Mathcounts team competition.

The top individual participant was Anders Eagleson from Fruitvale. He earned this award by winning the Countdown Round, a head-to-head mathematics competition.

This year’s competition was held Feb. 24 at Cal State Bakersfield.

Members of the winning Fruitvale team are Joseph Choi, Anders Eagleson, Zach Lotze, and Grant Novins with coaches Daniel Ardron and Stephanie Long.

The second place team was Warren Junior High. Team members are Alex Chan, Jhotte Kannapan, Michael Limeiro, and Alan Xu with coaches Mary Beth Moon and Lori Tholl.

These two teams will advance to the state competition at the University of California, Irvine on March 17.

The third place team was Chipman Junior High. Team members are Haley Davis, Robynn Kurczodyna, Erynn Worthing, and David Wright with coach Kari Wykoff.

The fourth place team was Murray Middle School from Ridgecrest. Team members are Charlotte Flatebo, Luke Kelley, Nam Trinh, and Sam Woodman with coaches Lynne Spoons, Lynne Hetherton, Tami Welsh, and Andrea Gerber.

The fifth place team was McKee Middle School. Team members are Peter Kedzierski, Pete Naveiras, John Tenorio, and Joshua Tenorio with coach Robert Niz.

Additionally, the best sixth-grade school for the second year was Discovery Elementary. Team members are Craig Bailey, Corbin Burnes, Ryan Alford, and Cassidee Kido with coach Kelly Fries.

Three students with the highest scores on individual tests, and who are not members of either of the two advancing teams, will also advance to the state competition. These students are Robynn Kurczodyna, Peter Kedzierski, and Luke Kelley.

Countdown Round participants were the 10 highest scoring students from individual written tests. The final results were: Anders Eagleson, first place; Robynn Kurczodyna, second place; Joseph Choi, third place; Peter Kedzierski, fourth place; Michael Limeiro, fifth place; Jhotte Kannapan, sixth place; Luke Kelley, seventh place; Grant Novins, eighth place; Heidi Yi, ninth place; and Cassidee Kido, 10th place.

The top-scoring student from each of the 17 participating schools also received an award. These awards were given to Robynn Kurczodyna of Chipman; Cassidee Kido of Discovery; David Kilpatrick of Downtown Elementary; Braxton Fitts of Emerson Middle School; Trevor Millar of Franklin Elementary; Joseph Choi of Fruitvale; Ezequiel Hernandez of Haven Drive Middle School in Arvin; Alexis Bartels of Jacobsen Middle School in Tehachapi; Emma Austin of James Monroe Middle School in Ridgecrest; Peter Kedzierski of McKee; Bryan Cervantes of Mountain View Middle School in Lamont; Luke Kelley of Murray; Juethani Tiscareno of Bessie Owens Intermediate School; Yadira Vasquez of Palm Avenue Elementary School in Wasco; Jose Sepulveda of Rio Bravo Greeley School; Jorge Zuniga of Thomas Jefferson Middle School in Wasco; and Michael Limeiro from Warren.

Locally, Mathcounts is sponsored by the CSUB Department of Mathematics and the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office. Founding Sponsors are the National Society of Professional Engineers, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the CNA Foundation.

Fruitvale Jr. High Band to play concert at Rabobank Theater

Bored? Celebrate the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Boar, with the Fruitvale Junior High School Concert Band and the Golden Dargon Acrobats Tuesday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m. at Rabobank Theater. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the Wildcat concert.

The Fruitvale Junior High Concert Band will perform at the Rabobank Theater immediately prior to a performance by the Golden Dragon Acrobats. The Fruitvale band is conducted by Josh Barr.

The Acrobats troupe’s manager, Bill Fegan, has been putting them in hundreds of venues around America for 30 years now, including the upcoming Rabobank Theater show.

Even so, "I still sit in awe … I still don’t believe that they’re doing this," he said.

So just how amazing are the Golden Dragon Acrobats, who’ll be here Feb. 27, leaping, bounding and generally thumbing their noses at gravity?

China keeps turning out crop after crop of brilliantly conditioned acrobats who can contort their bodies into configurations and climb atop one another and over assorted objects 30 feet into the air - among dozens of other feats that require going out on every limb of the human body.

None of them speak English. .

Every last acrobat comes from China, where they were trained from childhood onward.

This is something that has been going, as they say, for quite some time. As in, oh, around 25 centuries.

Though some historical records suggest that the art of Chinese acrobatics extends as far back as 4,000 years, it didn’t become all the rage, so to speak, until around 2,500 years ago.

That’s when the emperors began to sit up in their thrones and take notice..

The actual birth place for the art form was "the farm houses of peasants, where it was a kind of a winter activity," says Fegan. Making do with the objects at hand, from chairs to plates, "they began playing with household stuff, and that’s how it got started. They developed their skills in the winter and when spring came, they came out and performed in a community festival."

Word got out.

"After awhile, it became very popular and was used as entertainment for the emperor at court," Fegan says.

And now 25 centuries later, it’s onto bigger fish: The Golden Dragons now command a truly royal seven-week performance on Broadway each year.

The 22-member troupe headed to Bakersfield Feb. 27 range in age from around 17 to the venerable age of 31.

Venerable, at least, in the world of Chinese acrobats, whose window of opportunity is no different than that of a world-class athlete or dancer.

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Regardless of which country they come from, the acrobats have all been training since around the age of 8, and they all spend about two years touring stateside until the need to return home arises. So the ranks are constantly being replenished with new blood.

"These kids learn to walk on their hands the same way we learn to walk on our feet," Fegan says. "Then they develop other skills as they move forward."

After being accepted into the Golden Dragon Acrobats ranks, each performer is allowed to cultivate his or her special skill.

Speaking of "his and her," the membership is divided equally along gender lines, meaning there will be 11 men an 11 women on the Rabobank Theater stage.

Some of the things we’ll see them doing on Feb 27, will have their roots in routines those original peasant acrobats were doing in say, 221 B.C., during the Han Dynasty: spinning plates on poles, leaping through hoops, balancing a 30-foot tower of chairs and humans, etc.

But, adds Fegan, the acts have all been refined and made even more challenging over the centuries, which is why, after witnessing hundreds of performances, he can still sit in an audience with his jaw on the floor.

"The tower of chairs is the most requested act when somebody books us," he admits. "So we always have some permutation of that."

Simply put, it involves one man stacking six chairs atop a table, which achieves the 30-foot height. At the peak, a performer does a one-hand handstand and revolves.

Despite the apparent huge risk involved, Fegan says he has only witnessed it go awry once in 30 years.

"We were in a tent outdoors when a big wind came up and blew the chairs down. He (the acrobat) fell with them and was taken to the hospital, where he had 17 stitches put into his face. That night, he was back on stage doing it again. Amazing."

Another act that pops Fegan’s eyes is one of the female contortionist, who twists her body around in bizarre configurations while balancing six towers of glasses filled with water - on each of her hands, atop her forehead, in her mouth, all while "writhing around stage and so forth."

In all the years of the routine’s twisting and turning, "I’ve never seen anyone drop anything."

What Fegan has seen are the lavish visual accompaniments of the florid costuming and choreography that, he says, are unmatched by any of the other three or four Chinese acrobatic companies that tour stateside each season.

Not only do the shows attract regular folks, he adds, they’re also hot tickets among celebrities whenever they turn up on Broadway and elsewhere.

For example, Tom Cruise arrived with his entourage/family one night recently.

Luckily, notes Fegan, the performers weren’t told beforehand. If they had, that 30-foot chair tower or those six towers of water-filled glasses might have come tumbling down.

Fegan agrees: The laws of gravity are sometimes more easily overcome than the pressure of mega-stars in the audience.

The Golden Dragon Acrobats performance at the Rabobank Theater is presented by the Bakersfield Community Concert Association. For more information phone (661) 326-0838, email communityconcert@yahoo.com or go to www.geocities.com/communityconcert/

Donate empty ink cartridges to school fundraising efforts

Columbia Elementary School is kicking off a new fundraiser.

This year we are recycling ink cartridges. If you have empty ink cartridges laying around, don't throw them away.

We can send them in and get up to $4 per cartridge. Just bring them by our school at 703 Mondavi Way, and we will send them in for you.

Columbia Elementary's Guest Reader Day

Columbia Elementary celebrated Friday, Feb. 17, with a Guest “Chef” Reader Day. The event was organized by the school’s librarian, Pam Molinaro, and guests were introduced at the morning flag salute assembly to the students and staff, all of whom were wearing chef hats.

After introductions, each guest reader was assigned to read a story to one of the 27 classrooms. Guests included current and retired Fruitvale School District employees and a number of chefs and owners from local restaurants including Frugatti’s, the Petroleum Club, Savory Solutions, Maitia’s, Mexicali, The Country Rose Tea Room, Coconut Joe’s, The Pizza Market, The Crystal Palace, The Garden Spot, Maxwell’s, Tailgater’s Sports Grill, The Sequoia Sandwich Company, and Café Med.

We want to send a huge thank you to all our local guests for making time to share your life and stories with our students.

Discovery students find success at Kern County Oral Language Festival

Discovery Elementary students know the meaning of “dedication.”
On Jan. 21, a group of eight students from Discovery’s sixth-grade arrived at the Standard Middle School auditorium for the annual Kern County Oral Language Festival, confident they were well prepared for their verse choir event.
Not surprisingly, the students were first to arrive at 7:30 a.m. After all, the group had been meeting at this hour for regular practice sessions each weekday since October to prepare themselves for the competition.
Any parent of an oral language participant is a witness to the commitment it takes to memorize and perform a published piece of literature that must be between three and five minutes in length and recited without prompting or notes.
There are rules to follow in each category (no moving the feet and no solo speakers in verse choirs) and other guidelines that, at times, seem daunting.
Success in oral language competitions is not unique to this group and is not unique to Discovery.
Two members of the 2005 verse choir were returning to Standard’s stage for the second time. Other Discovery finalists, whose stellar presentations garnered them opportunities to compete at the regional level this year, also had prior experience as county contenders.
What exactly, then, is the school’s secret in developing such high achievers?
The answer is dedication.
Discovery’s staff, including some of the best educators and mentors in California, places a high priority on the oral language competition, often dedicating time before, during and after school to ensure students’ readiness for an event that creates an opportunity for participants to gain confidence in public speaking.
At Discovery, it is common for the children to report at 7:30 a.m., at noon and again at 3:15 p.m. for daily practices.
By the time these students reach the regional level of competition, it is likely that they have performed their piece more than 100 times before teachers, administrators, parents and fellow students. Surprisingly, the kids don’t seem to mind.
This year’s coach (who’s no stranger to the county competition) allows her students to choose their own practice schedule.
Sixth-grade teacher Ally Parker, who has proven success coaching other verse choir groups, allows the children to make decisions in all aspects of the oral language competition and doesn’t believe in pushing them beyond their limits.
In response, this year’s verse choir group worked determinedly with Mrs. Parker, and despite having to get up early every day to arrive at school 30 minutes before the campus opened, they never complained.
Their dedication paid off. Discovery’s sixth-grade verse choir took home second place in this year’s Kern County Oral Language Festival, earning Fruitvale School District another of many top finishes at the county level.
By the end of the day, the students were pleased with their near flawless performance and proud to place second out of the 16 school districts competing.
The trophy was great, but when asked what they enjoyed most about the festival’s outcome, the answer seemed unanimous: “We get to sleep in!”