Photograph by Chad Pilster
Children from Lakewood Elementary School's after-school program put on three performances celebrating the American spirit.
Lakewood students celebrate America
Patriotic play part of after-school program
By Jana Seshadri
Overcoming many academic hurdles, the kids participating in the Kids Learning After School program at Lakewood Elementary School recently demonstrated that education is much more than just the three R's.
With three showings of The History of the American Spirit on May 16, the second- through fifth-graders recounted the history of the United States in song and dance to the school audience. The students were accompanied by 50 members of the school's baton group, which performed its well-practiced routines.
First-grade teacher Jackie Casey, who has taught at Lakewood for 20 years and is in charge of the learning program, said she decided on the theme of the show.
"I chose a patriotic theme because I wanted the children to be aware of what happened in this country," Casey said.
The show began with a color guard in true military style. A medley paid homage to the U.S. Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy. Paul Schaefer, who retired from the U.S. Air Force after 23 years, tutors the fifth-grade-level reading, comprehension and vocabulary in the learning program. Schaefer said he was ready and willing to help out with the full military etiquette in the show.
The history lesson began when a boy started asking his father questions about events while watching a parade. Starting from the founding fathers and proceeding down history's path to present-day America, the children, dressed in red, white and blue, focused on historically important events-like the Civil War and World War I and II-that changed the American way of life. The parade setting helped present the events in chronological order.
After the students narrated some of the events, the relevant songs would follow. Greg White played the part of Martin Luther King Jr., giving the "I Have a Dream" speech, after which the children sang "We Shall Overcome." As Lady Liberty, Kathleen Pardo held a torch high with her right hand and clutched a book with her left hand, reciting the famous lines from the Emma Lazarus poem of 1883 beginning "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Pointing out that this country has welcomed people from all over the world, children from about 10 different countries, including Mexico, the Philippines, Vietnam and India, paraded onstage in their native costumes.
The learning program is a result of a California Department of Education Before and After School Learning and Safe Neighborhoods Partnerships Program grant award that Lakewood received last year--a collaborative partnership of the city of Sunnyvale, the Sunnyvale School District, the state of California, YMCA and Advanced Micro Devices.
Photograph by Chad Pilster
Lakewood Elementary KLAS students wait to go onstage to perform 'God Bless America' during their 'History of the American Spirit' performance.
The after-school program provides kids with a safe place to stay after school, recreational areas and academic tutoring. Many parents of Lakewood students have difficulty with the English language and are unable to guide or help their children with homework, according to Sherri Holbrook, principal of Lakewood. Affordable after-school care is another issue some parents face, she added.
The learning program costs $25 per trimester per child. Although the school can identify more students than the program would allow, many parents are not able to sign their children up because of financial limitations or other issues.
"The learning program has more 'at risk' kids," Holbrook said. "A low SAT9 score is one criterion."
The program can accommodate 100 students upon teachers' recommendations, but the grant stipulates that they have 85 students in attendance daily. The three-hour learning program, which runs after school daily, focuses on more than just academics--along with English language and homework tutoring, students play educational games organized by the YMCA as well as take art and drama lessons.
The after-school program also supports the school's baton group. Coordinator and kindergarten teacher Lucille Galvin started the group in January, adding that she has been twirling the baton since she was 12 and is a member of the National Baton Twirling Association. She moved to the Bay Area in 1968 from Texas and has worked for the Sunnyvale School District since 1972, 20 of those years at Lakewood.
"I think it's a wonderful way to teach responsibility," Galvin said. "Baton twirling teaches kids rhythm and a lot of patience."
During the performance, the students in the baton group were dressed in white, with white hats perched on their heads and Stars and Stripes scarves around their necks. While the students in the program sang "This Land is Your Land," the baton group performed cartwheels in front of the audience.
The show enabled all the children to work together as a team and have fun with it, Galvin said. "It's the process of being able to learn something and be proud of it."
Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
