Osborne and approximately 30 other Willow Glen students who attend Castillero Middle School are members of an advanced performing arts group. These youth helped take home awards for the school in every category, including the overall award that is given to the school that has entered each area of competition and earned the highest combined score.

Osborne is part of the Concert Choir and Show Stoppers, a singing and dancing show choir that allowed each of its 43 members to sing a solo during a 10-song medley. Show Stoppers won the gold in their category, as well as a special award naming the group as the best of all the groups that scored more than 95 points in their category.

The Concert Choir chose a selection of three songs, including Osborne's favorite, "The River Song."

"I thought we did the best at that," she said. "We sounded good."

Other groups from Castillero that competed included the Jazz Band, the Advanced Orchestra, the Chamber Strings, the Men's Choir and the Silver Tones, an all-women's choir.

Osborne admitted she was nervous going into the competition but that everything turned out well. In fact, Osborne was pleasantly surprised with all the participating students attending an awards ceremony at the Festival Arena on April 12.

"It was really crowded. Everyone was really excited," Osborne said. "I thought our groups did well, but I didn't think we would do as well as we did. Afterwards, when I found out that everyone got gold and I saw all the huge trophies and plaques I was so excited!"

She added, "Some people were screaming and jumping like cheerleaders in the front row. It was really funny!"

The Heritage Festival is Anaheim's largest music festival and is a prestigious venue for middle and high school musical groups to showcase their talent and compete for recognition. This is the 14th year that Castillero has been represented at the festival, and the school competed in eight different categories. Castillero was one of only two middle schools competing against high schools in this year's competition.

This was Osborne's first time competing at the Heritage Festival. She tried out for the choirs at the end of her sixth grade year and was placed in the advanced Concert Choir and Show Stoppers as a seventh-grader. There are intermediate groups as well, comprised of mostly fifth- and sixth-graders, that do not perform in Anaheim. To prepare for the festival, the advanced groups only had to attend a few extra after-school practices in addition to their normal class periods.

The only hitch on the trip was the traffic they encountered on the drive down. The bus ride to Los Angeles took 10 hours, but Osborne passed the time sharing CDs with a friend and sleeping.

In addition to the Heritage Festival, the students performed twice at Disneyland's Plaza Garden Stage—formerly the Carnation Stage—where they were joined by Dance Infinia, a group of jazz and modern dancers who did not compete at the festival. The students also enjoyed part of the time at the amusement park and California Adventure.

"I liked performing in Disneyland best because a lot of people came to watch us," Osborne commented. "It was right by the castle." She also mentioned that the students were able to watch each other perform at Disneyland and could clap and cheer each other on, which they were not able to do at the festival.

Osborne's mother, Sarah, who attended the trip as a chaperone, said, "No one got much sleep, and I was amazed at how well the kids performed. They had to be up at 5:30 each morning and got to bed between midnight and 1 a.m."

She added, "It was a trip of very little rest, but a lot of fun and a wonderful experience for the kids, and it showed true commitment from their teachers and all the parent volunteers, too."