PLEASANTON, CA–The Pacific Coast Repertory Theatre‘s world premiere of “Enchanted April” opened this weekend at the Firehouse Arts Center in Pleasanton, running April 23, 2016 – May 8, 2016, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm. Based on the beloved novel The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, the story and lively score of Leipart and Evans’ musical reflect its setting in post-Victorian London and in Portofino, Italy – the Jazz Age and the 1920s – romantic, lyrical, jazzy. In the hands of Evans and Leipart, von Arnim’s witty and insightful story and colorful characters, full of heart and humor – make for a fabulous new musical.
Life and love are about to bloom for four London women: Rose – neglected by her husband and hiding a secret desire; Lottie – full of life and a mischievous streak; Lady Caroline – a stunningly beautiful but jaded debutante; and Mrs. Fisher – a widow who believes her glory days are all behind her. These four ladies find each other and the castle of their dreams for one magical month on the Mediterranean. They seek a much needed antidote from their London cares, and what they find on the Italian shore awakens them to a world of beauty, ardor, and the joys of living. Love and comedy ensue when their husbands and lovers descend on the ladies’ heavenly retreat – where passions bloom in the Italian spring!
DUBLIN, CA–Several weeks before the opening night of the Dublin High School Drama spring musical In the Heights, one of the people listening to rehearsal remarked that the cast probably shouldn’t still be using the Broadway soundtrack to rehearse.
Well, as it turned out they weren’t: they were the only ones singing.
After Thursday night’s opening performance, it is clear that In the Heights could be a broadway show. Bringing together just over fifty students, the production shows what Dublin High Drama can truly offer.
The musical In the Heights was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and takes place in a barrio of Washington Heights, NYC. Nina Rosario grew up in the barrio and was the first person there, and in her family, to go college. However, after dropping out of her first year at Stanford, Nina returns home to face not only her parents, but all the people that were so proud of her when she left. The musical also follows Usnavi, a Dominican bodega owner, and his grandmother Abuela Claudia as they struggle over the change in the barrio. Over the course of her visit, Usnavi discovers what the people of the barrio really mean to him, and Nina realizes that to achieve her dreams, she must never give up.
Dublin High School Alum and Georgetown Senior Ina Deljkic on the Copenhagen Business School Case Competition
Two years ago Dublin High School Class of 2012 graduate and Georgetown University senior Ina Deljkic shared her experiences at the midpoint of her college journey (read more…). With her senior year almost finished, and a full-time job already lined up after graduation, we spoke with Ina about the unique opportunity she had recently to compete with business school students from around the world at the annual Copenhagen Business School Case Competition held in Denmark.
OneDublin.org: Before we talk about the Copenhagen Business School Case Competition, for those who haven’t experienced business school what is a case study?
Ina Deljkic: “A case study involves giving students background information and documents about a real company that is facing a problem, for example in their current market or a new market they want to enter, and then challenging the students to find a solution to that problem. Case studies usually involve students dissecting the material they’ve been given, building a financial model, developing recommendations and then presenting back to the case company. What I just described is exactly what we did at the Copenhagen Business School Case Competition.”
Life in Cal State Stanislaus – Caitlin Carrion on Competitive Cheer for Warriors, Gaels and Mustangs
Over the past decade Dublin has developed a strong cheer program from middle school through high school, with the program growing dramatically at Fallon Middle School, Wells Middle School and Dublin High School. For our next Life in College Series article we spoke with Caitlin Carrion, a freshman at Cal State Stanislaus where she is a member of the Warriors competitive cheer team.
OneDublin.org: What led to you getting interested in competitive cheerleading?
Caitlin Carrion: “I first got involved in dance when I was five and gymnastics when I was seven, and then cheerleading at Fallon. When I first got involved in cheer I thought you just shook the pom-poms and cheered from the sidelines. I had no idea there were competitions for cheer. I was confused when Coach Kristine Cousins told me she wanted me on her competition team for Fallon Middle School. I wondered ‘why are we competing? what are we competing for?’
“Before starting cheer I believed all the stereotypes – that cheerleaders are not very smart and are mean, and I’ve found the reality to be completely the opposite. Competitive cheer is one of the most team-oriented sports. If one person isn’t there the entire pyramid can’t go up. It’s as much a mental as it is a physical sport. If you are about to perform a stunt and one team member is afraid to do it, lots of people can get hurt.
“You have to be there full force or the whole team is affected.”
OneDublin.org: You mentioned that competitive cheerleading is a sport – why do you say that?
Carrion: “There is sideline cheer and competition cheer. I don’t believe that sideline cheer is a sport – you are cheering on your team and performing simple stunts – but you aren’t competing. Competitive or all-star cheer, however, involves high-risk routines with gymnastics and stunts in competition against other teams. You are putting yourself at risk and constantly pushing the envelope. To be competitive you have to think up new stunts and routines every year. I believe competitive cheer is one of the most mentally challenging sports.”
Three Dublin Elementary Schools Named Gold Ribbon Schools
DUBLIN, CA–Dougherty Elementary School, Green Elementary School and Murray Elementary School have been recognized by the State of California as Gold Ribbon Award honorees. The California Department of Education officially announced the Gold Ribbon Award recipients Wednesday afternoon. Dublin’s three honorees were among 29 in Alameda County and 772 statewide.
“We are proud of Murray, Dougherty and Green Elementary schools for their ongoing work to improve student learning,” said Dublin Superintendent Dr. Stephen Hanke. “Recognition as Gold Ribbon schools is a validation of the outstanding efforts of teachers, support staff, parents and students. We congratulate the three schools for receiving this prestigious award.”
The California Gold Ribbon Schools Award was created to honor schools in place of the California Distinguished Schools Program, which is on hiatus while California creates new assessment and accountability systems. Nearly 6,000 elementary schools were eligible to apply this year.
DUBLIN, CA–When one mentions the term “wax museum” what often comes to mind is the chain of successful branches throughout the world that were spawned by Marie Tussaud. Born a French citizen, she learned the art of wax modeling throughout the late 1770’s. Ms. Tassaud was incapable to return to France from the U.K. during the Napoleonic Wars. As a result, she traveled throughout Great Britain and then ultimately established her first wax museum on Baker Street in London.
However, to many fifth graders, this historic explanation is best left in history books. As we fast forward to 2016, a wonderful variation of a wax museum occurred last Friday. At Dublin Elementary School, Ms. Murrah Rodriguez and her fifth grade teaching colleagues led a rousing event in the Multi-purpose room that had most of the school buzzing. Ms. Rodriguez explained that she had been exposed to a Notable American Wax Museum assembly while employed in a different school district. Upon her arrival to Dublin Unified School District three years ago, she introduced this concept on a smaller scale within her own fifth grade class. Subsequently, she successfully rallied to make this a grade level project.
Upon observation, the assembly resembled an event very close to a science fair. Students were often grouped together if their museum subjects were identical or very similar. Further, each student wore a small red sticker on their costume. Once the button was pushed, the historical figure would then launch into a short summary of what their project represented. The MPR was also filled with various third and fourth grades students. Their charge was to select a variety of individuals that they would subsequently report upon.
To learn a bit more, OneDublin.org had the opportunity to view this assembly. Further, we visited with Ms. Rodriguez and she helped us to understand the significance of this project and what it means to the school site.
DUBLIN, CA–The Dublin High School Drama Department is producing its first musical in eight years, with “In The Heights”, a hit Broadway musical created by Lin Manuel Miranda, who is currently one of the biggest stars in theater after creating the smash “Hamilton”.
“In the Heights” opens on Thursday, April 21 for a four-day run in the Dublin High Center for Performing Arts and Education. Tickets can be purchased at the door or at DHSDrama.com.
Dublin High School Drama Director Scott DiLorenzo talked this week about the months of preparation that have gone into a show that he believes will be the best ever done at Dublin High. (source: Dublin High School)
How did it come to be that the department would do “In The Heights”?
Life in Brigham Young University – Emilee McFadden’s Three Lessons for Dublin High School Students
by Emilee McFadden (Dublin High School Class of 2015 and Brigham Young University Freshman)
Emilee at the Crystal Apple Awards 2015
I am almost done with my first year of college. WOW. Time has FLOWN by as I have been buried in my studies, created life-long memories with friends, and learned so many new things. I would like to share three lessons I have learned throughout this short life of mine. (Though I am no sage, I have always loved getting advice from the ‘old college kids’, so here I am, the ‘old college kid’, imparting of my wisdom to you).
I graduated from Dublin High School in June of 2015 and now attend Brigham Young University. Being a BYU Cougar has been my dream since I visited at age four. Our family would always drive through the Provo mountains when we came to Utah, and I would look at the big white Y on the mountain and just wish that I could go there someday. Thirteen years later, I got my acceptance letter from BYU and felt like a huge bucket of water had just washed away all the pain, exhaustion, and stress that had gotten me into this school. Instantly I realized that the things that are worth it the most are the things that are the hardest.
Emilee and her family
I’ve had to remind myself of this many times in college. College is hard. BYU is intense and expects a lot from the students. There have been times when I have felt so inadequate and burdened by schoolwork and missing home that I question coming to college. During those times, I would run through all the different options I could have taken instead of coming to BYU, and then would remember how badly I wanted to go here and why I need to be here. Memories of swaying back and forth with 3500 other BYU students clad in white chanting the Fight Song at BYU Basketball games, sitting in a lecture that was so moving and inspiring that all 100 students were crying, camping out in the beautiful red rocks of Moab, and attending weekly devotionals that inspire and motivate me would flood my mind in these moments of discouragement. I love BYU, and though there are many tough moments, the good moments and prospect of a stable future make it all worth it.
Did Dublin Students Get a Homework Break over Spring Break?
credit: James Morehead for Patch.com
As another Spring Break comes to an end I’d like to take a look at an insidious virus that infects school breaks – winter, spring and summer. It’s a virus that has proven very difficult to eradicate and vaccines challenging to perfect. I’m talking about the practice of assigning projects and homework over school breaks.
From Give Us a (Homework) Break written by a Dublin High School student a few years ago, “Homework policies make it increasingly hard to take a rest from school because of assignments and projects that are due after the break. Assignments over vacations can range from a simple homework worksheet to a project that requires hours and hours. What is the point of having breaks if you can’t enjoy them?” Being on break means detaching, means not having to worry about what is due, means not having to schedule time for that assignment, means not having to remember a textbook when packing for a camping trip; detaching means being completely detached from school and its daily press of structure and deadlines.
Some people might say:”But it’s just a few hours out of a full week!”, or “There’s a lot of material to cover and we just can’t afford to lose an entire week!”, or maybe even:”Getting into college is more and more competitive and I want my child to have the best possible chance of getting into a good college!”. But assignments looming over students like a dark cloud, following them wherever they go, always nagging and tugging until complete, steal from a student’s break. Parents know the feeling – it’s the feeling when a presentation at work is coming up or taxes are due soon.
And so the spring break busyness begins. My daughter had friends over earlier this week and I asked them – raise your hands if you were assigned projects or homework over the break. All hands went up. For parents this means inevitable vacation interrupting nagging and cajoling: “have you worked on your project? will you have enough time? make sure to work on your project in the morning so you can relax at night!”
Dublin Schools, Growth, a New Superintendent and SB50 – an Interview with School Board President Dan Cunningham
DUBLIN, CA–The theme for 2016 in Dublin schools is “change”. The challenges of rapid growth, the retirements of Superintendent Dr. Stephen Hanke and Dublin High School Principal Carol Shimizu, finding funding for new schools (including another high school) and upcoming elections combine for a busy year for Dublin Unified School District Board Trustees. To understand how the District is managing this year of change, OneDublin.org’s Mary Morehead recently met with Board of Trustees President Dan Cunningham.
Mary Morehead: There has been a lot of talk about “SB50”. Why is SB50 an important topic for Dublin education?
Dan Cunningham: “SB50 was a State law that was passed in 1998 that set out how school facilities were going to be funded. There is a long history behind SB50, but basically when they passed that law in 1998 what was supposed to happen was that as long as there was a State bond, and Prop. 1 was the State bond that passed at that time, the State would fund half of school construction, and the developers would fund through fees the other half. The developer fees varied – there are Level 1 fees covering the case where there aren’t space constraints but the developers are still developing, Level 2 fees require additional criteria and Level 3 fees were meant for when the State was out of money.
OneDublin.org 