Sixth graders host talent show

Since school started in September, Sisters Middle School sixth graders have been planning, organizing and producing a fund-raiser from the ground up.

Last month weeks of work bore fruit, and the results were far beyond anyone's expectations. Nearly $1,000 was raised to benefit Bethlehem Inn, Central Oregon's largest emergency homeless shelter.

In finding a way to raise money to help the community, students from the "Roots and Shoots" class decided to host a talent show. The class, which grew from a school club, is based around education about service and improving living conditions for people and animals.

"They wanted to help the homeless," said instructor Rob Jensen, who also teaches sixth grade science.

The event was planned and carried out in full by the students with little or no adult assistance and/or intervention.

"The students get to take charge. This is entirely run by sixth graders. They did everything," said middle school principal Kathy Miner.

When the call went out for talent, the response from students in all grades was hearty.

"We had auditions," said Jensen. "We kept everyone who was able to perform in front of people, because it's kind of a feel-good kind of thing. If kids are willing to step up on stage, they usually either A: have talent or B: are really excited about what they are doing."

To give the show a professional touch, Mistress of Ceremonies Savannah Spear introduced each act before the students performed. Nearly 30 students sang, danced, played their musical instruments and entertained with creative skits. To allow for set changes between acts, sixth graders Ivory Hutchins and Shayna Noone told jokes to provide comic relief.

The Bend improvisation group Triage added a spark of adult talent to the show's fun and creativity.

The Roots and Shoots program is an outgrowth of an international network that was founded in 1991 by 16 teenagers in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, with the help of noted primatologist, environmentalist and humanitarian Jane Goodall. Today tens of thousands of young people in more than 100 countries participate in the Roots and Shoots network by creating projects that make the world a better place for people, animals and the environment. Visit http://www.rootsandshoots.org for information.

Miner told The Nugget that the Roots and Shoots class helps Sisters sixth graders learn things about animals, humankind and the environment that they will need to know in the future.

"Global awareness, understanding humanity, community service, giving to others, taking care of the environment, those are issues that they (today's sixth graders) are going to have to have a handle on in life. Roots and Shoots is really geared for community service which in middle school is so important, because we teach safety, respect, responsibility. This is a way to fit right in - to be respectful of your environment, take care of others, to think outside yourself. It's something we want to model," Miner said.