Foundation talent show goal is to raise money for District 158 programs

It promises to be like an irresistible box of Valentine chocolates.

You never know what to expect from the next act, but each will be more satisfying that the last.

The Education Foundation for Huntley Area Schools is hosting its first-ever Community Showcase on Feb. 10 in hopes of creating a community and family tradition that also will raise funds for scholarships, classroom projects and programs in Huntley Unit District 158.

The showcase will feature 120 different performers in 32 acts, ranging in age from 6 to 84. The performers and volunteers in the show include students from kindergarten through high school, professionals who've toured the world, Fine Arts Booster members, Girl Scout troops, District 158 board members and administrators, Del Webb residents and residents of neighboring communities.

"I am very excited and impressed with the level of talent included in this show," said Director Kim Skaja, who also serves on the District 158 school board.

"I knew ours was a talented community, but I had no idea it was to this extent. The auditions blew me away. Some of our adults have performed professionally in the past, and I believe several of our students will perform professionally in the future.

"The audience can expect to be amazed, enchanted and entertained," she said.

The showcase will feature two acts, with an old-fashioned ice cream social during intermission.

During intermission there also will be a raffle with prizes such as gift certificates to local restaurants worth up to $100, a spa basket, a home fitness program worth $500 and balloon sculptures from Huntley's own Lollypop the Clown.

"The goals of this event are to start some traditions which involve members of the entire community from the young to the young-at-heart, and to raise awareness of the mission of the Foundation," said Education Foundation board member Rosemary Herringer.

"Every cent of this fundraiser will be put into grants which teachers will request for their classes. The Foundation believes in helping teachers to empower their students with enriching programs which might not be available from the district."

Since the Education Foundation began in 2002, it has awarded more than $77,000 in grants to teachers for classroom projects and programs to better the education of students, and more than $54,000 in scholarships, member Leigh Ann Porsch said.

Two of those grant recipients, Huntley High School teacher Dennis Brown and Conley Elementary School fourth-grade teacher Edie Williams, will tell the audience briefly during the showcase about the grants they have received for their classes.

Brown, the school's journalism teacher and yearbook and newspaper adviser, received both a grant for his newspaper class to attend a conference and a grant for his newspaper staff to purchase a new digital camera. Williams' grant was for Conley's Reader's Theater program.

The Foundation has held several fundraisers in the past so that it could fund such programs that enhance the educational experience in the district through programs not normally funded by the board.

The hope is that the Community Showcase would help continue that tradition, while also offering a family-friendly event for the community.

"The overall goal of the show is to raise funds for the Education Foundation, but the underlying goal is to bring the community together for good old-fashioned fun," Skaja said.

Originally, Foundation members had hoped to hold the show around Christmastime, similar to a show the Huntley community held annually many years ago.

"This event is a spin-off of an earlier carefree community, which had Christmas shows that united the community. However, in our busy world today, December has so many events happening that we thought Feb. 10 was a good date -- after the Super Bowl and before Valentine's Day. A little old-fashioned nostalgia will appear in the form of our ice cream social between Acts I and II," Herringer said.

Tickets for the show are $10 for adults, $8 for children under 12, and free for children under 2 . They are available at any of the District 158 schools. Raffle tickets are available at the performance for $2, three for $5 or seven for $10. For information call Herringer at (847) 961-5668 or Michele Gentry at (847) 669-3142.

The show begins at 2 p.m. Feb. 10 at Huntley High School in the performing arts center. The ice cream social will be held in the main gym during intermission and is free for those with tickets.

Show highlights

There will be approximately 120 performers in the Education Foundation for Huntley Area Schools' Community Showcase on Feb. 10. The emcees for the evening will be Dave Jenkins, the district's Director of Technology, and Marissa Sopchyk, and some school board members will make an appearance at the event.

These are some of the show highlights.

• Karen Bloom and her Hip-Hop students from Lifetime Fitness will perform.

• Eight-year-old Sofiya Kyrylyak, who plays violin with the Chicago Youth Symphony, and her mother, Tetyana Torzhevska, who will accompany her on piano performing a cutting from Haydn's Concerto in G Major. Torzhevska was a professional opera singer who toured Europe before moving to the United States from Ukraine.

• Huntley High School junior Hannah Smith, a dancer, will perform a lyrical number to the Beatles "Let it Be"

• Glen Jorian of Sun City will reprise his role as Tevya from last year's Sun City production of "Fiddler on the Roof," performing with Marlowe Middle School students whose production of "Fiddler" opens in March.

• Ray Thomas, Sun City's local first-place Idol winner and second place National Idol winner, will perform "Unchained Melody."

• Twelve members of Del Webb's Strutters will perform a tap routine to "Mame.".

• Gunnar Hanson of Del Webb will play a 50-year-old electric steel guitar and sing a medley of classic country songs from the 1940s and 1950s.

• Michelle Janney of the Square Barn Road campus' PTA will sing "My Funny Valentine." Michelle sang professionally but gave it up to raise her family.

• Huntley High School Fine Arts Booster members RD Holloman of Del Webb and Huntley resident Carolyn Bien will recreate their rendition of "Laugh In's" Ruth Buzzi and "The Dirty Old Man."

• Jordan Klein, a second-grader from Chesak Elementary, will dance to Michael Buble's version of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love."