Hope of America

Hope of America is a cool choreographed patriotic musical program for 5th graders at over 100 elementary schools performed at BYU's Marriott Center.  Cat participated when she was in 5th grade and this year it was Jack's turn.  He enjoyed learning the songs and motions at school, practicing them at home, and performing them for an audience.

What we didn't know before beginning the school year at this new school is that this is one of the schools that has a permanent position on the floor.  The 5th graders had extra choreography to learn and were able to unfurl an enormous American flag.  The younger grades at our school participate on the floor as well during the song "All Kinds of People Came to America" representing different cultures and countries in America.  Eliza's class dressed up and did a brief dance as Pacific Islanders, with the girls even using poi balls.

The performance was during a Choir rehearsal so I opted to help Eliza's class during the dress rehearsal earlier in the day and watch the kids then.  The program was great and the kids did a wonderful job!

Look for Eliza at about 4:12, in the back row toward the middle,

and again at the end when everyone comes out and runs in circles.

Ben and Luke watched the real performance that night and it went very well, though it started later than we expected and took a long time with all of the pre-show performances and everything.  It was a fun activity for the kids to participate in.