MUSD held the annual Jack Emery Food Drive from Nov. 10 to Dec. 12 to raise money for the Milpitas Food Pantry, which supports those in our community who face food insecurity. MHS raised over $15,000, surpassing our schoolwide stretch goal, activities director Deana Querubin said. One of the events that leadership organized to get donations was the Jack Emery Talent Show, held on Dec. 5 in the theater, featuring numerous performances, from martial arts to contortionism to student bands.
Querubin loved the energy of the crowd and the wide variety of talents, she said.
“We had singers; we had dancers; we had speed watermelon-eaters,” Querubin said.
The last time the talent show was organized by leadership was much before she became activities director, Querubin said. The theater also holds the Variety Show, but she doesn’t know when they last did that, she added.
“We brought it back because there are so many talented people on campus,” Querubin said. “Cool thing too – the talent show wasn’t just like a singing competition. There are people with talents that are not singers.”
Sophomore Eunice Lee performed a jump rope routine to the song, “Humble,” by Kendrick Lamar, she said.
“It is something I’ve been doing for about five or six years,” Lee said. “I started in second grade during the MEO (Milpitas Elementary Olympics), and I really found a passion for it.”
Lee goes to national competitions organized by the American Jump Rope Federation where jumpers from around the country come together to compete, she said. As the only competitive jumper from the California area, she finds a “sense of community” there that she really loves, she added.
“I’ve been National Champion,” Lee said. “I’ve also been Grand National Champion, so, regardless of age group. It’s been a journey.”
Performing in front of large crowds is always nerve-wracking, Lee said. As she performed for the talent show, she felt the spotlight focusing directly on her and everything else being pitch dark, she said.
“It was so scary,” Lee said. “But I can hear the energy of the crowd, and it just
motivates me.”
A panel of five judges crowned Lee the first-place winner of the Jack Emery Talent Show and Pavithra Prasad, who sang “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” by Whitney Houston, the runner-up. Lee said that she’s either going to donate, invest, or spend her $300 prize.
“I really, really am so honored to be here to perform,” Lee said. “I’m technically performing for Jack Emery, for people in need. During this Christmas season, there are so many people out there who can’t afford a lot of the things that we have, and we take for granted.”
Before the talent show, leadership held auditions on Nov. 13. They also held rehearsals on both the day before and the day of the event, Querubin said. Leadership promised a sizable prize — $300 for the winner and $150 for the runner-up — as an incentive to participate, she said.
“We need to make it a prize that it’s like, ‘Wow, that’s the grand prize!’” Querubin said. “From that, we got a lot of sign-ups, which was really, really awesome.”
The Behind the Scenes (BTS) club officers ran audio and lights for the Jack Emery Talent Show, while leadership students carried out other backstage tasks, BTS president Johnathan Nguyen said.
“Audio is usually just connected to the speakers in the theater,” Nguyen said. “We play it from our Chromebook, or whatever device we have on hand. Lights are personally controlled by someone that has experience with lights in our club.”
The BTS club was founded this year and focuses on helping out clubs organize their shows, Nguyen said. They recently ran the Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) charity show in November, he said.
“Our club just really helps backstage — so, behind the scenes,” Nguyen said.
Tickets for the talent show were $5 each for students and $10 each for adults. Leadership raised over $300 at the door, on top of the money they raised through online ticket sales, Querubin said.
“We didn’t fill the theater, but we’re still happy about the result,” Querubin said. When asked if leadership would host the talent show again next year, she said, they would, “a 100 percent.”
In addition to the talent show, leadership organized the Coin Wars, Duct Tape Wars, Pie Wars, Winterfest, and Winter Glow Dance to raise money for Jack Emery, according to an email from Querubin. Students also had the option to donate to their first-period classrooms, she wrote.
Although it’s the season of giving, the money raised by Jack Emery impacts the Milpitas Food Pantry throughout the year, Querubin said.
“To the readers, to the school, to the community, thank you,” Querubin said. “What you do matters, and we’re so appreciative of whatever donation, whether it’s coins or dollars or cans. Anything is valuable, and it goes a long way. We appreciate everything that we get.”
