That much was evident at the school's annual variety show, The Adventure Begins, held over the weekend, with 171 students performing before a packed house.

The long list of two-minute acts included piano pieces, song-and-dance numbers, students dressed in cultural attire, individual and group performances and one staff act.

The evening ended with a surprise closing act to honor school administrative assistant Claudia Fortson, who will retire and move out of state at the end of the school year. Fortson choreographed and did the music for the K­4 opening act and came up with the idea for a fifth-grade finale, which had a disco/hippie theme this year.

For the surprise finale, former parent volunteer Amy Garrett rewrote the lyrics to "Mame" and gathered past fifth-grade finale student participants—some of whom now attend Saratoga High School—and parent directors to perform in an emotional song and dance.

The performers, attired in black and white costumes and sparkly hats, stunned the already-teary Fortson, who calls the variety show "my heart."

Fortson has been heavily involved in the variety show during her 11 years at Argonaut and functions as the liaison between the school and the Parent-Teacher Association. "It's a very special thing for me and something that I'll miss the most," she said.

"It is truly exciting working with the kids," Fortson said, explaining that through the show students build stage presence, gain confidence about appearing in front of their peers and learn the significance of the performing arts.

"They're learning self-confidence, absolutely. And self-esteem," Fortson said. At the same time, the students come up with ideas for their acts and are not pressured by the school. "They really do it on their own, and they love it," Fortson said.

Megan Trager, a fifth-grader, is one of those students who developed character through her six years in the variety show.

"She was shy when she was in kindergarten," Fortson said, "and now she's blossomed. She's come a long way."

Trager, along with nine other girls, donned Old Navy red-and-pink pajama sets and did a dance to the song "Count On Me." While other clothing options were available, Trager said, "one of the moms had the choices for what we could dress like and then we all voted." Another girl chose the friendship-themed song.

Voting was also something that Derek Sun, a first-grader, did in his group. The six boys elected to perform to a country version of the "Hokey Pokey." The boys wore denim shirts and pants, cowboy hats and sheriff's pins and had red bandanas tied around their necks.

Sun said he was excited about the experience but had been more apprehensive than he had been performing as a kindergartner. "Last year we did it with big kids, so I didn't feel nervous," Sun said. "This year I was kind of nervous."

For the most part, however, participants had a good time.

"I didn't know what a variety show was, but I didn't care," said kindergartner Lipika Sadaram. She said she was just happy to be part of the "Hindi Song," an act of Indian boys and girls doing a traditional dance in traditional Indian outfits.

"I get to be with other people and also I like dancing," said Meera D'Costa, a fourth-grader. D'Costa and her friends performed an Indian dance to a song "sung by a Spanish guy" that they had learned from a videotape.

D'Costa said they had looked at several acts before choosing the one that was dubbed "Ritmas Internacionales." "It was really hard to decide," D'Costa said.

Fifth-grader Samantha Pack said she will miss the variety show when she goes on to Redwood Middle School next year. She and her friend Cathryn Paolini sang and danced to the song "Cinderella."

While Pack enjoys performing, she said she does the variety show in part because she received compliments on her voice and is asked to participate in the event.

For the first time in Argonaut's history, tickets for the variety show sold out days before the March 22 event.

Variety show co-directors Maya Baba and Rose Baden, both parents of fifth-grade girls, said they were "relieved" that the show was over. "We've been rehearsing since February," Baba said.

Baden said, however, "It's fun to see the kids start out rough in their acts and then really all pull it together."

"It's always fun to watch the kids perform," Baba said.

"The audience has always been very forgiving," Baden added.

For Fortson, the experience was bittersweet, but she intends to be back to the variety show as a guest.

"Seeing kids shine and how the kids love it—it's truly rewarding," Fortson said.