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YOU'RE A STAR is an educational musical assembly program bringing theater, song, DEI principles and SEL skills to students grades K-4 in the NJ/NY region. The original show was created by In Full Color and features singer/songwriters Ali de León, Vero Verano and Justin Galletto. Jump to Booking information here or email summer@infullcolor.org

 

Scroll down to explore the world of our show, and learn more about how you can bring this exciting show to your school!

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Join us for our annual talent show -- Y O U ' R E * A * S T A R -- Contestants below

This website is maintained by Ms. Diaz, media arts club presidents Khadija & Keilani, & the mysterious school muralist only known as Pranksy

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'You're a Star' contestants L to R: Girls' tennis champion Leehanna, new girl Zea? Xeeuh? Zha? Xia? whatever,
and unknown. Photo by AcidTest Photo

A Message from Principal Santos

Greetings, WHA students, faculty & parents! Our new curriculum includes a special focus on arts disciplines like theater and music as well as DEI principles that foster student sense of belonging and peer acceptance. Our social-emotional skills initiative is also growing! Teachers, please pick up your APOLOGY and LOVE acronym posters and CONSCIOUSNESS acronym scrolls by Thursday.

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Musical Mentorships a Success

The musical mentorship program headed by choir/band director
Mr. Masters invited artists such as Paramore, Olivia Rodrigo, Shakira, Cardi B, Omar Apollo and the composers behind 'Dear Evan Hansen' to work directly with students. This program helped WHA students craft incredible original songs you'll hear at our annual talent show, You're A Star! See if you can hear these artists' influence in our contestants' tunes.

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SEE OUR TALENTED CONTESTANTS "REHEARSE"

Tennis Court

TENNIS CHAMPS AGAIN!

by Pranksy (Jose)

Coach Williams and WHA'S girls tennis team has done it again, winning another tournament. We spoke with star player Leehanna about her big win. I thought she would be happy, but her shoulders were slouched down and she was frowning. I asked how she felt and she said, "I'm so excited and happy I won, but I just hope the other girls from Mariah Carey Elementary feel OK. Some of them seemed really upset."

Leehanna stayed with her teammates for celebratory ice cream and asked my parents for a ride home which was weird because I thought her mom would be there, but oh well. She looks happy in this picture, at least!

ALL ABOUT US

by Xia (it's SHA, not ZEE-UH, OK??)

Hi! Ms. Diaz ask me to write a articol about the show but I didn't wanna so I made this video instead so you can know all about ME and also some of my friends that will be in your a star and what we like and what we don't like and our favorite subjects and not favorite subjects please like, comment and subscribe.

Kids with Capes

OPINION: 'SUPER G' IS THE GREATEST SUPERHERO IN HISTORY

by Carlos G.

In real life, the force we encounter most often is gravity. But in the superhero world, which one could argue may exist in another alternate universe, there are other forces too which are dark, evil forces. And the only superhero who can face those forces is my favorite superhero, Super G! In this essay, I will show why Super G is the greatest superhero in history: his superpowers, his incredible feats and his ability to always believe in himself.

Super G has super strength, super speed, flight and the ability to absorb forces and reflect them back at his foes. While many other superheroes have some of these abilities, no other superhero has all of them. He also has only one weakness, which is telling other people how he feels or understanding how they feel. Which I guess is technically two weaknesses, or maybe not, maybe they are two sides of the same coin. Either way, feelings don't really matter when it comes to good and evil so his weaknesses don't count.

Super G has defeated a lot of bad guys in the past. He has defeated Gravitron, Skydro and Hypnodoom, who are all really tough. His greatest foes are the Four ACEs -- the ACE of Diamonds, who steals food and money from children; the ACE of Spades, who makes parents fight a lot with each other; the ACE of Clubs, who makes parents mean to their kids; and the ACE of Hearts, who makes children feel alone, hurt, scared and hopeless. It was really hard for him, but he beat them too.

 

Lastly, Super G  always finds a way to love himself. He is a lot like me because his dad is from Earth and his mom is from Newtonia. I am half-Puerto Rican and half-Italian, but no one knows what I am. A lot of people in his world say half-human, half-aliens shouldn't exist, but it's his Newtonian super strength and his human compassion that make him the coolest ever. He reminds me that I am perfect the way I am, too.

Because Super G has a unique set of super skills and weaknesses, has overcome a lot of challenges in his life and loves himself the way he is, he is clearly the best superhero to ever exist on the planet. And if you don't think so, you should probably read this again. In conclusion, he is the best.

 

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: 'YOU'RE A STAR' CONTESTANTS

Meet the students who will sing their heart out for you!

XIA

a Chinese-American transfer student who wants to show that despite being different, she’s cool girl material

sounds like: Paramore, Olivia Rodrigo

played by: Vero Verano

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CARLOS

a biracial white and Latinx comic book nerd who is mostly hoping to prove something to himself

sounds like: Omar Apollo, Bruno Mars, 'Dear Evan Hansen'

played by: Justin Galletto

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LEEHANNA

an Afro-Latinx tennis star who hopes her singing will finally get her music-loving, over-worked mom’s attention

sounds like: Shakira, Cardi B

played by: Ali de León 

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K&K

Khadija & Keilani, the coolest girls at WHA -- you know you love us! we're definitely going to win. Just accept it, y'all!!!

sounds like: nobody else, we're completely original

played by: NOBODY -- do not even try us

Read Less, It's Boring
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A MESSAGE FROM MRS. MENDOZA

WHA's school guidance counselor would like to remind you -- if you hurt somebody and want to make it better, remember to follow our APOLOGY guidelines. Talk to a teacher or trusted adult if you need help.

LEEHANNA, XIA AND CARLOS -- FRIENDS OR NOT FRIENDS?

an investigative piece by K&K

These three people are supposed to be friends, but if you scroll through these photos from Mr. Velez's studio AcidTest Photo, you will see that maybe they are not. ARE THEY? Would real friends ever not understand each other?? Or yell at each other? Or stop talking to each other sometimes? We think not. Scroll for yourselves and see.

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Want to learn more about how to bring "You're a Star" to your school? Visit Booking or email summer@infullcolor.org

WEBSITE CREDITS

Graphics: Vecteezy, Loading.io, Wix; Content: Summer Dawn; Promo Photos: AcidTest Photo; Apology Photo by Artem Podrez;

Special Thanks: Jackie Santos, Aurora Diaz, Mercy Villa, Brendon Masters. Note: Whitney Houston Academy and all of its students and faculty are fictional characters, and the events depicted here and in our musical are fictional.

YOU'RE A STAR CREDITS

Co-Created by Summer Dawn, Alicia Rivas and Justin Galletto; Book by Summer Dawn; Music by Deniss Pridans (billonstars), Uladzislau Tarasau (Waves), Prod Kult, J. Brindley, Summer Dawn, Alicia Rivas, Justin Galletto; Piano Arrangement ("They'll See Me") Brendon Masters; Lyrics by Summer Dawn, Alicia Rivas and Justin Galletto; Tech Support by Mercy Villa and Brendon Masters

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