Alta Vista hosts holiday show Alta Vista hosts holiday show (December 10, 2004)

Proceeds will pay for senior class trip

By Julie O'Shea

Alta Vista High School students and teachers will hold a holiday showcase Dec. 14 to help raise money for the end-of-the-year senior trip to Disneyland and Universal Studios.

The showcase will feature singing, dancing, traditional Christmas carols sung in both English and Spanish and holiday readings about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

The event, which starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Mountain View High School theater, will include a raffle. Tickets are $5.

All money from the event will go toward the senior trip to Southern California in the spring. Jodi Disario, a teacher at Alta Vista, said the school hopes to raise enough by the end of the school year to pay for the trip, which she estimates will cost $11,000.

Following the shooting death of Los Altos High School student Alejandro "Alex" Fernandez earlier this year and a number of other private tragedies, Disario said students really wanted to do something uplifting for the holiday season. She added that Alex's death really had an impact on many Alta Vista students, who had been friends with the 17-year-old junior.

"It's been a really rough year for the students. ... We really felt that we needed something light that the students and teachers can participate in together," Disario said. The holiday showcase is "making a big difference. It's really something fun to look forward to."

About 50 students will be participating in the event, including a newly formed school rock band that is still eagerly piecing together its set.

"We don't know what's going on," said Sam O'Brien, an Alta Vista senior and one of the band members. "We'll probably do a prerecorded song. We are more of a cover band than original, but we hope to go original."

The band, which doesn't have a name yet, performs mostly underground hard rock numbers, but Sam said he and his fellow musicians will probably do something a little lighter for the holiday show, possibly "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones.

The teens aren't the only ones who are getting excited about the evening. Principal Bill Pierce will be belting out a tune or two and according to Disario, the act will definitely be one of the highlights of the show.

"He's very excited about it, and so are the students," Disario said.

The Mountain View High School theater is located at 3535 Truman Ave.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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