Every October, Ipswich High School seems to be a more
exciting place when Spirit Week occurs. Students dress up for a
particular theme each day and the week is filled with all sorts of competitions
to gain points and become the winner of
Spirit Week. The winner of Spirit Week
gets a pizza party and more importantly, bragging rights!
On the last day of
each Spirit Week, students and teachers are given the opportunity to show their
various talents to the rest of the school and help their grade win the Talent
Show and Teacher Dress-Up competition. This year’s competition was one of
the most impressive that has ever been held, said assistant principal Mr.
Dalton. Each grade put forth tons of
effort and work.
Here is a class-by-class review of each grade’s talent show
performers and Teacher Dress-Up participants.
The Freshman class kicked off a great start to the Talent Show, with a
great rendition of “Scotland the Brave” performed by Gideon Bresley.
Though he took quite a stumble as he took a large gasp for air, he gathered
himself as he saluted the crowd and everyone enthusiastically cheered
for him. Also performing for the Freshman class was Anthony Looby who
beautifully played the piano. For their
Teacher Dress-Up, they decided to have Mr. Sargent and Mr. Ingram dress up
in drag as Charlie’s Angels. The crowd howled throughout the whole act as
everyone watched these two male teachers walk in heels. It
is amazing how well they could strut.
The Sophomores began their part of the talent show with Paul
Taylor and Jackie Vlahos rapping to a remix of “Love Story” by Taylor
Swift. They had the crowd fooled when they acted as though their music
wasn’t working and they decided to make up their own rap to Swift’s hit.
Next, Maria Longo performed a brilliant piece on the piano and effectively
changed the tone of the competition and impressed the judges. As for
their Teacher Dress-Up, Gardy acted as
Zac Efron of High School Musical as he and some members of the Sophomore class
acted out a scene from the movie and played some basketball on the stage.
As the winners of this year’s Talent Show, the Juniors had a
great duo of spectacular acts. Eli Thomas, Danielle DeAngelis and Ariel
Sacco danced to Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” and the crowd laughed
hysterically. Eli’s dance moves were music video worthy as Danielle and Ariel
added to this fantastic act. The next act was a great cover of Stevie
Wonder’s “I Wish” by The Will Galanis Experience. This cover sealed the
deal for the Juniors as this band rocked the auditorium and made everyone’s
feet tap. The band had practiced this song for about two weeks said Will
Galanis, the bassist for the Will Galanis Experience. He also added that
“we would practice for a couple hours when we rehearsed and learning this
classic was a great opportunity.” The Juniors Teacher Dress-Up was a very clever idea, with new teacher Mrs.
Alexander acting as Taylor Swift receiving an award at the MTV Music Video
Awards. As she received the award, Mr. Pleines, who was dressed as Kanye
West, broke up her speech and proclaimed that she didn’t deserve the award as
the crowd laughed.
Kaitlin Eaton’s touching vocal performance started off
the senior acts. Her singing captivated everyone’s attention as Kaitlin
beautifully sang to the music. Her singing made the judges’ job even
tougher as they had to vote on the winner of the show. For the final act
of the Talent Show, approximately 30 members of the Senior class danced to
Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and made teachers reminisce of the deceased pop
star. Nonetheless, Steve Monroe played Jackson as the star of the dance as
he showed some of Jackson’s dance moves, including the Moonwalk.
For those of you were unable to attend this year’s Talent Show,
hopefully this summary gives you a feel for how funny and creative it was. The 2009 Talent Show set the bar high for
future competitions. Luckily, the
juniors will have a chance to defend their crown. As for the seniors, they had a great four
year run.