Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Clearwater High will send 35 students to be part of the 1,000-member America Sings group at this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
By JULIANNE WU
© St. Petersburg Times, published October 5, 2000
CLEARWATER -- Melanie Dorsey, Laura Trujillo and Nick Pleasant are about to have their 15 minutes or so of fame.
The three are among the 35 Clearwater High School students who will march and sing with America Sings, a non-profit goodwill organization, in the nationally televised Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on Nov. 23. They were chosen from about 300 Clearwater High students who auditioned in mid September.
"I'm ecstatic," said Nick, 15, a sophomore from Clearwater. "I watch the parade every Thanksgiving."
Although she had never seen the parade before, Melanie, 17 and a senior, is equally excited about the trip. "I just have to collect the last $100 to make $800," said Melanie, a Clearwater resident.
Nick said he has raised about $438 so far, and Laura has used $100 of her own money to hold her place and is working on raising the rest.
Lisa Jury, Clearwater High's director of vocal music, said the chorus has to raise about $35,000 to cover the costs for 35 kids and 10 chaperones. "So far, we've raised about $10,000," said Jury, who taught at Oak Grove Middle School before coming to Clearwater High two years ago.
"Ms. Jury has given us plenty of opportunities to raise the money to go," said Laura. "Kids shouldn't have any excuses."
Although they didn't know exactly who would go, the students knew in June that Clearwater High had been selected for inclusion in the 1,000-member America Sings group in this year's Thanksgiving Day parade. Jury didn't know how many applied, but said the recruitment was open to all high schools and colleges in the country.
Local fundraising efforts include selling candles, candy and other items; appealing to local businesses for money; a silent auction at the chorus' upcoming Nov. 9 concert; and "adoptive parents."
For at least a $25 contribution, people can become temporary adoptive parents, complete with "bragging rights" about their "child" being in the parade; a postcard from the adopted choral member, a picture of him or her and a small souvenir from New York City.
In past years, Jury has taken her middle school students to America Sings performances in Orlando and once to Washington, D.C., but has never had her high school students in any performance, much less Macy's annual parade.
For Melanie and Laura, Jury's former students at Oak Grove, this will be their first big trip anywhere.
"Oh, a couple of weeks ago, we all (the 35 students from Clearwater High) sang at a Devil Rays baseball game," said Melanie. "But that doesn't count."
Seven alternates were also selected, said Jury, in case some of the original 35 can't make it. To make the trip, the students must maintain at least a 2.0 grade point average, not miss more than three after-school or Saturday morning practices and not have any disciplinary actions against them.
Theparade takes place Nov. 23 and the kids have to be in New York by Nov. 21 to practice for six hours with the entire America Sings group.
On Nov. 22, the participants will practice another seven hours on the three songs they've been working on for months. They will also help assemble thousands of toiletry kits and make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for inner-city youngsters.
The community service portion of the trip is in keeping with America Sings' motto: To Kids Who Feel They Have No Hope, From Kids With Hope to Share. The non-profit organization is in its 12th year.
On Thanksgiving Day, the whole group will be in place, in costume, at 7 a.m. at New York's Herald Square. The America Sings group will start off the parade, then be taken via the subway to the end of the parade and march again, right before Santa Claus.
"I'm really excited," said Jury. "This is such a good teaching tool."
Said Nick Pleasant: "It's worth it for a trip to New York."