PACOIMA : Students Stage Music-Filled Tribute to King

In an early celebration of Black History Month, which begins next week, the musical theater class at Pacoima Middle School presented a Martin Luther King Jr. tribute this week to the student body.

The students pieced the show together from projects they had been working on for several months. One of the segments had been singled out for special praise from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

A shortened version of the show was performed before the Los Angeles City Council last week.

For Thursday’s assembly, the director of the musical theater class, Scott Mandel, added an informational slide show about King and a ballet, danced to the music of a spiritual.

Mandel’s class is one of many available at Pacoima Middle School’s television, theater and fine arts magnet program, which has an enrollment of about 160.

“This not only is a great experience for the kids but it’s great P. R. for public schools,” Mandel said.

The student presentation started with an African American student reciting King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, as the rest of the ensemble filed down the aisles of the auditorium softly singing, “We Shall Overcome.”

Rhonda Hoskins, 14, said she enjoyed portraying King. “We don’t have any African American boys in the class, so I thought it was good,” Rhonda said.

Another member of the class, Chelsea Emata, 13, said she thought shows like this were effective in reaching her peers.

“I think using musical theater is a great idea because with music, you can really feel it,” Chelsea said. “Music is easier to understand than words.”