High school events can be top-notch entertainment

By Karen Woodmansee

Appeal Staff Writer

I don't think I'll ever get tired of life in a small town.

Since I'm not a parent, I never frequented high school plays, sports or other events when I lived in a large city, but in Virginia City, the local high school is where everything is happening, especially when you get tired of bars.

Last week Virginia City High School celebrated its Intersession program, where students spend a month either taking remedial courses in subjects they had trouble in, or fun or challenging courses. At the end of Intersession, a show and open house is held, and this year the event was full of parents and kids.

We got to hear student Megan Huffman singing Heart's "Crazy On You" with a garage band made up of students and music teacher Matt Breithaupt, sounding as good or better than many area bar bands. The band did a rendition of "Hotel California" with a great guitar solo by Trip Sucasas. Like many garage bands, it was not always smooth, but the kids had fun and it was fun to listen to them.

The students who took cooking during the Intersession prepared a dinner. I had the homemade lemonade (perfect); the meatball soup (would have been perfect if it had just one more meatball; broth was perfect); and a sort of cowpunchers stew with cornbread and salad (all excellent). Other options included salmon and a vegetarian dish, both of which were raved about by my tablemates.

A moving part of the show took place during dinner when Global Voice, headed by Community Chest Inc. Executive Director Sean Griffin, discussed a recent trip to Mexico.

Students used their Intersession time to go to Mexico and help fix up a boarding school for underprivileged children. Several students noted what an "awesome" experience it was for them once they got past the language barrier.

"It was absolutely amazing to see the kids down there," said Shannon Adamson. "They were so willing to work with us and even though it was hard, it was loads of fun."

We traipsed to classrooms where the sewing and quilting projects were laid out. To do that, we passed student Molly McGregor's psychedelic, textured paintings as well as works by Alex Sullivan, Alyssa Knight, Chelsey Becker and Sierra Fielding. I felt the same pang of regret that I had no artistic talent that I felt when I was in high school. The best art I ever made was stick figures.

The sewing projects were mostly those weird aviator-style caps the kids like these days, with the two ends hanging down, but not far enough to tie. Some of them were done very well, with great colors, but I guess I don't get the fashion statement. Wearing those in my school would get a kid beat up, or at least made an object of ridicule.

Robert Barrington made a Teddy bear, which he named George, and others did intricate quilt work and crocheted or knitted scarves.

The most eagerly awaited event of the Intersession open house was the belly dancing, which was created by teacher Christine Prater. The girls, more than 20 strong, danced to mostly modern music but still used the beautiful, graceful motions of belly dancing. Some of the dances were eye-opening in their athleticism, with flips, cartwheels and splits thrown into the dancing.

Any one of the girls would put Britney Spears' dancers to shame.

Prater let two girls, Emily Fisher and Morgan Mason, have a chance to take over the class, for which they thanked her.

"It wasn't easy - not everyone listened - but it was definitely a learning experience," one said.

It was a good experience for the audience too, as well as the teachers.

"Doing this gets more fun every year," said Breithaupt who taught the garage band. "The band comes in more talented and more prepared with better ideas every year."

Can't wait till next year.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111 ext. 351.