Show choirs host potluck and preview

The Albert Lea High School show choirs hosted a parent potluck preview night on Feb. 22. The families brought food for a potluck supper and then all three show choirs performed for their parents. The students have been working on their shows since this fall and this was the first time the parents have watched the performances.

Southwest Blue Skies is a mixed group of 34 seventh- and eighth-graders, SASS (Soprano, Alto Singing Sensation) is an all-female group of 28 freshmen and sophomores, and CATaclysmic is a mixed group of ninth- through 12th-grade students complete with a 10-piece combo.

The groups are directed by Diane Heaney with choreography help from Sarah Polis-Mares, Sam Sickels and Gracie Thomas.

Student artists take the spotlight

The elementary and secondary art show is scheduled for March 7-31 at the Albert Lea Art Center.

An open house will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday. Regular gallery hours are from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

Each school has about 25 pieces of art in the show.

Schools celebrate Read Across America

On Tuesday, in celebration of Read Across America, Michele Burkard’s second-graders at Halverson Elementary had guest readers from the school board in their classroom. They read childhood favorites that may or may not have been from the Dr. Seuss collection.

At Sibley Elementary, a schoolwide D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read) time was held from 8:30 to 8:40 a.m.

Everyone at Sibley — child, adult, Sneetch, etc., — was to be reading at that time. This activity culminated a monthlong celebration of reading during February’s I Love To Read Month.

English students write own poems

Seventh-grade English students are writing and publishing their own work. They have been writing a variety of poems for self-publication. Their choices include free verse, rhyming poems, haiku, cinquain, limericks and more.

Students are using their creative juices to write about topics using figurative language. Poems may include similes, metaphors, alliteration, imagery, hyperbole, personification and onomatopoeia.

By self-publishing, students have journeyed through all of the stages of writing. They begin with brainstorming ideas and getting their thoughts on paper. These are organized into poems which undergo revision and editing before final self-publication. Students can add artwork and other personal touches to make their booklets special.

Once their poems are done, students can choose to enter their poetry into competitions. There are online options as well as mail-in contests.