Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

Among the cast members of 'The Wishing Book' at Argonaut School are (from left) Jessica Ling, Bryte Nielson, Adrienne Boardman, Randy Yuan (back), Angela Leung, Parsan Saffaie (back), Melissa Martinyak, T.J. Florence, Ryan Brenner (back), Elisha Garg and Kelcey Cheung.

Students know wishes come true

By Michelle Alaimo

Margie Alejandro strives to have the children in her classes do well, dream and do their best in life. This is part of the basis for writing The Wishing Book, a musical for nearly 300 fifth-grade students at three different elementary schools to perform.

"To wish is to hope/ To dream is to imagine/ This one thing I know/ It takes away the sadness/ Life's lessons can be learned/ When we search for beauty/ What's wrong with wanting things/If they make life better?"

Alejandro, the Saratoga Union School District's music teacher, said this is one of the most important stanzas from "The Wishing Song." The musical, written in Texas six years ago by Alejandro and performed only once, has been revamped to be more multicultural for Saratoga, Alejandro said. She initially wrote the musical as a Christmas story but has since changed it to reflect all the winter holidays.

"I wanted the children to experience the cultural side of the holidays, not just the religious side," Alejandro said. By changing the musical, she allows the children in the play to experience other people's holidays through music and food and to help the children have a basic understanding of why different holidays are celebrated, Alejandro said.

The musical is about four Texas children who learn to appreciate all the different holidays with the help of some international friends, via a "Wishing Book." The children find the book in their attic, and each is granted a wish. The musical transports the audience through each of the children's wishes, ranging from more presents to a wish that people all over the world could come together in one big celebration.

Alejandro said she worked hard to incorporate every student who wanted to be in the musical. When discussing the various parts available, Alejandro said she tried to teach the students "that some [parts] have snow trim, some have no trim, but they all glow."

She added it was very important that every child in the musical feel valued and special. Alejandro said students were all given the opportunity to choose which part they wanted, allowing them to best use their talents.

"To me, the essence of the musical is to serve the child as a learning experience and to build self-esteem," Alejandro said.

The children have been been rehearsing on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays with a lot of parental support. Alejandro said parents donated $1,500 for elf costumes.

Alejandro, whose salary is funded by the Saratoga Education Foundation, will lead the students in three performances at each of the SUSD's elementary schools. Two of the performances will be held during the day for students only, with a 7 p.m. night performance for family and friends. Argonaut School's performance will be Nov. 25, Foothill School's is Dec. 4 and Saratoga School's performance will be held on Dec. 11.

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