This program brought to you in part by the Erika Lewis Endowment Fund.

♪♪♪ (Melinda Malone) Hello and welcome to a very special holiday edition of Student Spotlight .

I'm Melinda Malone.

(Mauricio Marin) And I'm Mauricio Marin.

'Tis the season for CCSD students to show off their talent and, boy, do they have a whole lot of talent!

-We invited a handful of choirs and other musical groups to the Vegas PBS studios for some special holiday performances just for you.

-Throughout this program, you'll also hear from students about why they love to perform, and we'll shine a spotlight on some other cool programs, as well.

-But for now, let's go to our student musicians in the other studio.

Enjoy!

(Stephanie Mallari) I'm Stephanie.

I'm a senior at Desert Oasis High School, and we'll be performing for you "Winter Wonderland."

♪♪ Sleigh bells ring, are you listenin'?

♪ ♪ In the lane, snow is glistenin' ♪ ♪ A beautiful sight ♪ ♪ We're happy tonight ♪ ♪ Walkin' in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ Gone away is the bluebird ♪ ♪ Here to stay is a new bird ♪ ♪ He sings a love song ♪ ♪ As we go along ♪ ♪ Walkin' in a winter wonderland ♪ ♪ In the meadow, we can build a snowman ♪ ♪ And pretend that he is Parson Brown ♪ ♪ He'll say, "Are ya married?"

♪ ♪ We'll say, "No, man ♪ ♪ But you can do the job when you're in town" ♪ ♪ Later on, we'll conspire ♪ ♪ As we dream by the fire ♪ ♪ To face unafraid ♪ ♪ The plans that we've made ♪ ♪ Walking in a winter wonderland ♪♪ (Abby Barlow) This is an electric violin.

And what makes it kind of different is that it can plug into an amp, and it can change the volume, the settings, and you can really rock out.

(Dani Vega) My favorite part of playing in the Electric Hill Orchestra is probably that I get to be able to play with my favorite orchestra director and all my friends.

-Mannion is a great school and we have a great teacher and its music and orchestra is a great chance to develop your musical abilities and to meet new friends.

And I love being in it.

-Hi.

My name is Dani, and I'm from Mannion Middle School.

And we're gonna play "Rock Ye Merry Gentlemen."

[techno music] ♪♪♪ -That's pretty incredible.

Great job, Mannion Middle School!

I just love hearing our students perform.

-We are lucky to have so many great performing arts programs here in the Clark County School District.

In fact, the district has been named a top school district for music education for more than 20 years in a row by the National Association of Music Merchants.

That's quite a winning streak!

-Sure is.

We'll head back to the other studio shortly for more performances.

But first, let's go to Gilbert Academy of the Creative Arts as students there prepare to host a "Winter Wonderland."

-The whole school is getting in on the act as C.V.T.

Gilbert Academy prepares for its Winter Wonderland and matinee performances.

(Stacy Testo) The performances are just a big part of our program.

They allow the students the opportunity to kind of showcase what they have been doing in drama class or in dance class.

And it just all comes together.

-While the students, teachers, and families look forward to the moment in the spotlight, it takes a lot of preparation, including learning the songs, picking the right costumes, and fine-tuning the choreography.

(Samantha Jolly) So with fifth grade, we have been working on it since end of September, we started the cast.

I think we started rehearsals around October, and we do it every day from 2:40 to 3:15.

(Andersyn) I was in rehearsal for a lot of time because I'm in the play, but like I caught on, and it was we went through the steps.

And it's pretty fun.

-Teachers at the school worked to incorporate classroom lessons into the practice for younger students... to help reinforce academics while allowing students to explore the creative arts.

(Cristian) Starting to learn more about, like, how to project my voice and use my voice to project so the crowd can hear it.

-While the students work for about an hour each day to prepare for their moment in center stage, they say it's worth it to see their family members enjoying their performance.

-It's-- It just feels fun, and my mom knows how hard I worked to do this.

-And for longtime educators like Stacy Testo, who has been at Gilbert Academy for 28 years, there's an extra joy in seeing former students in the audience watching their children perform.

-I taught the parents, and the kids now are coming here.

So that obviously meant they had a great experience as a child, as a parent, and now they want their kids here.

-Nice.

Thank you, Gilbert Academy for inviting us to visit.

-Now let's go back to our other studio where the Madrigal Singers from Las Vegas High School are ready to perform.

(Khari Knight-Santana) We are a renaissance singing group.

So we dress up in these renaissance outfits as a part of our attire.

(Xander Diaz) I love performing in a group like this because I get to grow and connect with every singer that is a part of the choir.

And it's all of a family aspect, and that's why I came here to Las Vegas High School.

(Emily Ferrano) I really love it just because of the bond I've made with so many people in it.

It's like a second family to me, and I really love them.

-When I sing, it kind of allows me to bring out a type of emotion and a feeling that you usually cannot portray just with words.

And when you're singing, you're allowed to kind of-- I'm allowed to do something that I'm passionate about and also bring out deeper meanings in music as a whole.

-It's really worth it.

I love singing with this entire group.

They're like a family to me.

-I'm Emily from Las Vegas High School, and we'll be performing "Mary, Did You Know?"

♪♪ Mary, did you know that your baby boy ♪ ♪ Would one day walk on water?

♪ ♪ Mary, did you know that your baby boy ♪ ♪ Would save our sons and daughters?

♪ ♪ Did you know that your baby boy ♪ ♪ Has come to make you new; ♪ ♪ This Child that you delivered ♪ ♪ Will soon deliver you?

♪ ♪ Mary, did you know that your baby boy ♪ ♪ Would give sight to a blind man?

♪ ♪ Mary, did you know that your baby boy ♪ ♪ Would calm a storm with His hand?

♪ ♪ Did you know that your baby boy ♪ ♪ Has walked where angels trod ♪ ♪ And when you kissed your little baby ♪ ♪ You kissed the face of God?

♪ ♪ The blind will see, the deaf will hear ♪ ♪ The dead will live again ♪ ♪ The lame will leap, the dumb will speak ♪ ♪ The praises of the Lamb!

♪ ♪ Mary, did you know that your baby boy ♪ ♪ Is Lord of all creation?

♪ ♪ Mary, did you know that your baby boy ♪ ♪ Will one day rule the nations?

♪ ♪ Did you know that your baby boy ♪ ♪ Was Heaven's perfect Lamb ♪ ♪ And the sleeping Child you're holding ♪ ♪ Is the Great I Am?

♪ ♪ Mary, did you know?

♪♪ (Calvin Hughes) So it's the Becker Jazz Band.

So it's kind of a little bit different from our regular band.

We play like jazz music, which we swing and a bunch of other cool stuff.

(Desiree Lopez) I just love the freedom of expression that I get to play.

And I have understood the notes of jazz, and I just love the music and quality and the show that we can bring to the instrument.

(Ryan Hill) I like how, like, you can get into the groove of it and, like, feel the music.

(Rylan Hill) I like that I can express myself through music and how you can just, like, be yourself and be as loud as you want through music.

-Like how everyone can fit together and play together.

Also, I met a bunch of great new friends -Performing, it just gives me a little bit of a rush.

And I just love sharing my talents with the world and just trying to make it a little bit happier.

-I really like how expression can be shown through the music.

-I feel like it's just like, it's just more than regular music.

You gotta, like, put Soul and, like, feeling into it.

It's just like-- It's like its own little thing, you know?

-I'm Desiree.

I'm from Becker Middle School, and we're about to play "I'll Be Home for Christmas."

[jazz music] ♪♪♪ -What an amazing performance!

Thank you, Becker Middle School.

It probably won't surprise you to learn that the Clark County School District has thousands and thousands of musical instruments.

-But did you know there's a small staff who work to make sure those instruments work properly?

Let's go behind the scenes of CCSD's Musical Instrument Repair Shop.

(Cameron Gates) I've been doing this for 30 years.

I'm Cameron Gates.

I'm a musical instrument repair technician.

I mainly repair brass instruments for bands and also Orff instruments for elementary music.

I was a tuba player, and I had a tuba in high school that was constantly broken.

A joint or a brace or something, it would not function.

So I kind of had to learn how to get it on my own.

I look at it kind of personally.

I was affected by it, and affecting students now is probably the best part of this job.

(Shannon La Neve) I'm Shannon La Neve.

I am the director of humanities for the Clark County School District.

The Musical Instrument Repair Shop is extremely important because it really allows students to have that musical instrument in their hand.

We want a functional instrument that plays well and brings just the love and joy of music to every student of the Clark County School District.

(Tim Adelson) I'm Tim Adelson.

I'm a musical instrument repair technician.

I work at CCSD, and I repair woodwind instruments and stringed instruments.

I always think about the end user when I'm doing a repair.

And I always think about the kid who's playing it and trying to make it play, specifically for the child that will be using the instrument.

If the instrument doesn't play right, children can get frustrated.

-Because we have an instrument repair shop, it strengthens the equity among all schools because it's a level playing field for all schools.

So it allows for schools to be able to keep and maintain those instruments over a period of time.

-I'm just happy that I can be here to help along kids, to make sure they have the best musical experience possible.

And I have one small part in that, and I'm happy to be doing that.

-There's no district that I've seen that has the strength of music education that CCSD does.

It's really inspiring to me to see it, and I think that I am very blessed to be just a small little part of that.

-So interesting.

Thank you for helping our students stay engaged in music education.

-Now let's head back to the studio to watch the A-Tech Flute Quartet.

(Breanna Foley) I like to play the flute because, okay, I saw it one time, someone else played it, and I was like, wow, it has a really pretty name and it sounds really pretty.

So I decided to play flute.

(Jayne McGovern) I thought it was a really cool-looking instrument, which is why I wanted to play the flute.

And then I started playing it and realized that it sounds really nice, and it's able to play the really high beautiful notes.

-My name is Breanna.

-My name is Jayne.

-And we're going to be performing "Angels We've Heard On High."

♪♪♪ (Cameron Beasley) My favorite part about this chamber choir is that you're able to spend time with all of the people in the choir, whether it be at school and sometimes outside of school.

We all have very shared similar interests.

(Stephanie Mallan) What I like is the friendships that I've made in this class over the few years, and it is my senior year.

So I'm definitely trying to make, like, last year the big one and try to make more friendships.

-Something that I think the people watching should know about our choir is the fact that not only do we all perform together and we sing together, but we're all super close to each other.

And we all enjoy everything that we do, especially when it is done together with everyone.

-I hope that they see us as a group that brings joy to other people through our music.

You know, we try to pick out, like, meaningful songs and spread hope and joy to the community.

-My name is Cameron.

I am a senior at Desert Oasis High School, and we will be performing for you "Do You Hear What I Hear?"

♪♪ Said the night wind to the little lamb ♪ ♪ Do you see what I see?

♪ ♪ Way up in the sky, little lamb ♪ ♪ Do you see what I see?

♪ ♪ A star, a star, dancing in the night ♪ ♪ With a tail as big as a kite ♪ ♪ With a tail as big as a kite ♪ ♪ Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy ♪ ♪ Do you hear what I hear?

♪ ♪ Ringing through the sky, shepherd boy ♪ ♪ Do you hear what I hear?

♪ ♪ A song, a song high above the trees ♪ ♪ With a voice as big as the sea ♪ ♪ With a voice as big as the sea ♪ ♪ Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king ♪ ♪ Do you know what I know?

♪ ♪ In your palace warm, mighty king ♪ ♪ Do you know what I know?

♪ ♪ A Child, a Child shivers in the cold ♪ ♪ Let us bring Him silver and gold ♪ ♪ Let us bring Him silver and gold ♪ ♪ Said the king to the people everywhere ♪ ♪ Listen to what I say!

♪ ♪ Pray for peace, people, everywhere ♪ ♪ Listen to what I say!

♪ ♪ The Child, the Child sleeping in the night ♪ ♪ He will bring us goodness and light ♪ ♪ He will bring us goodness and light ♪♪ -Thank you, Desert Oasis High School, for another stellar performance!

What an incredible half hour, but we're not done quite yet.

-That's because we want to take you to the Smith Center in Downtown Las Vegas, where more than 250 CCSD students and educators performed last month during the holiday extravaganza hosted by Clint Holmes.

The free family-friendly concert was sponsored by the Public Education Foundation and the School District.

What an awesome opportunity for our students to perform on a world class stage.

-And that wraps up this special holiday Student Spotlight .

A big thank you to all of our student musicians for sharing their talent with us.

And a shout out to their teachers, as well.

We appreciate all that you do.

-A reminder that you can watch this episode and past episodes of Student Spotlight on the Vegas PBS website.

That's vegaspbs.org.

And, Mauricio, we've put bonus performances online, so be sure to check those out, too.

-From all of us at Student Spotlight , we wish you a safe, healthy, and happy holiday season.

-We'll see you next year.

Happy Holidays, everyone.

♪♪♪