Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal Carson City Mayor Marv Teixeira sits with Carson Montessori Charter School students, from left, Anthony Round, 10; Venice Rogers, 11; and Justin Wheeler, 14. Teixeira listened to kids perform songs Monday morning as part of the Kid Carson Players' variety show, which showcases student talent and will be produced on a DVD.
For Katee Kendall, being the host of the "Kid Carson Players Variety Show" is interesting because of the new vocabulary in her script.
"There's a bunch of words that I've never heard of before," the Carson Montessori Charter School fourth-grader said. "Like toupee."
During the variety-show skit, Katee tries to find the person who kept a woman's bonnet from sailing away. A man at the scene wants to know why his toupee was not saved.
Katee now knows what the word means.
"It's like a wig," she said.
Other vocabulary she uses in that include "disconnected," "detained" and "Cessnas."
Katee and about 30 other children from Carson Montessori joined Kid Carson Players, run by James LeSage, brother of principal Joan Lepas. The troupe stems from the nonprofit organization LeSage co-founded called Community Connection Services Inc.
The multi-skit show will be produced on DVD by September and include student interviews with professionals and students singing and acting.
"We'll try and produce a DVD every year," LeSage said. "It will be like our archives. It will be like a yearbook on DVD."
LeSage plays the piano and has taught students many of the songs in the final production.
On Monday, students met Mayor Marv Teixeira and sang him two songs.
"I thought it was really cool because he is the mayor of Carson City," said fourth-grader Anthony Round.
The 10-year-old Kid Carson club member is learning how to use a videocamera, audio mixer and voice machine.
"I'm having a fun time (in the troupe)," he said. "We get to set up some cool equipment and stuff, and we get to play with the cameras. You get to meet people you haven't met before."
LeSage said he plans to open the show to all interested children during the summer. For information, call 315-3861. If students cannot afford the cost, it will be waived.
"I don't want any broken hearts in this deal," he said.
Cheryl Sinclaire, a parent-volunteer at the school who is helping with production, says she's seen a difference in students who joined the club.
"Some of the students that don't shine in some areas of the classroom shine in this," she said. "We're bringing out their latent abilities."
n Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.
