Douglas High School students show their stuff

Douglas High School students started their much anticipated spring break Friday with their annual talent show.

"We have amazingly talented kids," said DHS leadership teacher Karen Lamb, whose students organized the event. "It's good to let them showcase their talents, to let parents and the public know there are such great things going on here."

Hundreds of students, parents and faculty members packed the bleachers in the school gym to see the show. Junior Raphael Alves kicked things off with a comedic song, then classmate Nora Esparza, dressed in a long skirt with jangling metal sequins, performed a Native American Dance.

Junior Cassie Fastabend played keyboard and sang beautifully for a piece dedicated to one of her friends. Senior Thomas Wicker found himself in a fast-paced solo acoustic jam covering an old-school Smashing Pumpkins song.

Next, the dynamic dance trio KBC, consisting of Kalie McGill, Brittney Kashuba and Chani Frazier, took to the floor in neon colors and broke out some serious street moves.

Also returning this year was the ripping ensemble of Amish Men Mafia. Classmates Kevin Duarte, Dan Ruben and Alex Cerny delivered another powerful instrumental with flawless bass, dynamite percussion and the electric, otherworldly reverberation of Ruben's lead guitar.

Switching things up, sophomore Leah Walters, sporting a top hat and bow tie, gave an amazing hula hoop performance. She not only skillfully guided the hoop around her waist, but at times swung it around her body, stepped through it and spun it on her neck. At one point, she even lay down on the gym floor while keeping the hoop whirling above her.

Following Walters was senior Becca Neuffer on her acoustic guitar. Standing solo, Neuffer performed a deep, heartfelt ballad she'd written called "The Way I Do." Then classmates Scotty Lococo and Logan McNeil covered Red Hot Chili Peppers. Logan provided the guitar, while Lococo, in cut-off shorts and retro shades, not to mention the vest and pink tie, crooned the lyrics of "Snow (Hey Oh)."

Amish Men's Ruben returned to the stage with junior Elspeth Summersgill as The Botanicals. With Ruben on acoustic and Summersgill on the harmonica, the duet performed a soft, summery piece called "The Marigold Song."

The crowd went crazy for the last solo performer. Wearing a Scottish kilt, sophomore Matt Ruben, Dan Ruben's younger brother, hypnotized his peers with the multi-toned cry of his bagpipes. Up and down the chanter his fingers went, lungs clenched, as audience members began clapping to the instrument's vacillating wail.

After Douglas High jazz dance performed Michael Jackson's "Thriller," the event's seven teacher judges named bagpiping Matt Ruben first-place winner. Runner-up was Leah Walters for her hula hoop performance, and Amish Men Mafia took third for their strong instrumental.