Woodrow Wilson to have virtual talent show

The past four years, students at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School have taken part in a talent show. The end-of-the-year tradition has to take a detour this spring because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But the show must go on and instructional coach Jen Elbert and counselor Dallas Vander Pol are taking the talent show to the virtual world.

“It’s going to be way more challenging this year to do our talent show virtually compared to previous years,” Elbert said. “The challenge will come in the amount of organization that it’s going to take.”

Elbert and Vander Pol also want to include the fourth grade student council representatives in the show. They are going to be used as emcees.

“The extra challenge is writing a script for the council members and then gathering all the videos,” Elbert said. “Once that is done and all the acts are selected, then we can start putting our talent show together. We will hopefully have a really nice finished product that we can send out to all of Woodrow Wilson families and post on our social media page as well.”

According to Elbert, a small group of staff members will judge the videos. They are scheduled to take part in a watch party on Zoom. Elbert and Vander Pol are both part of the judging team.

Any student that attends Woodrow Wilson can participate in the talent show. All talents are accepted. Some popular ones in the past include dancing, singing, magic shows, lip syncing, piano and guitar playing, comedy and art.

Students were asked to submit their videos to Elbert by Sunday. The Virtual Talent Show participants will be announced on Wednesday and the final product is expected to be posted to Woodrow Wilson’s Facebook page on May 29.

“I’m excited to be part of the judging panel and I look forward to seeing our students share their talents with us,” Vander Pol said. “The most challenging part this year is not being able to celebrate the students’ performance in person. However, we are working together to make the virtual talent show as exciting as possible.”

The talent show at Woodrow Wilson is in its fourth year but this will be the first time it has been done virtually.

That will, however, allow families of the students to participate. The videos submitted to Elbert by Sunday are just rough drafts. Once the judges select ones for the show, students are asked to record a final copy and submit them again.

Sometimes the teachers participate, too.

“That is always fun as we have done a variety of skits,” Woodrow Wilson Principal Todd Schuster said. “We have had glow sticks taped to us as we danced in the dark and also have done a synchronized swimming skit among others.”

Schuster doesn’t take any credit for the talent show. He just gives the green light to allowing it happen each year.

“Jen and Dallas are the brains and muscle behind the talent show,” Schuster said. “The kids look forward to participating and also watching it every year. The biggest difference this year will be that the participants will not be able to feed off the energy from the audience. Jen and Dallas will need to do some coordination to pull this off but they do when it is not done virtually. I am certainly looking forward to it.”

There is not a winner of the talent show. According to Elbert, to earn a spot in our talent show they just need to see the student has taken the time to plan and practice their talent.

“We put this on every year to give students an outlet to show off their talents,” Elbert said. “We don’t always get to see that throughout the year. This is truly a way to celebrate our students. It has definitely become an end-of-the-year tradition, and we knew that we had to find some way to make it happen again.”

Taking part in the talent show is not something everyone does. Some students are too shy to get up on stage and perform in front of others. With this year being done virtually, it may allow a more wide range group of students to participate.

Elbert also said the judges get surprised a few times each year with who decides to participate.

“I think we may have more acts than ever doing it virtually this year,” Elbert said. “There is something a little less intimidating about recording yourself versus trying out in front of people.

“Saying that, there are always students who totally surprise us each year. Students we would never have guessed would feel comfortable getting on stage. We are so glad that we get the opportunity to do this for our students this year.”

The most popular submissions in the past have been dance numbers, but Elbert said magic tricks aren’t too far behind.

“When I met with the student council prior to spring break, they all shared how excited they were to host another school-wide talent show,” Vander Pol said. “I think it’s important that we continue to provide exciting opportunities for our students to stay engaged and connected during the school closure.

“I’m excited to see how creative our Woodrow Wilson students are.”

Contact Troy Hyde at 641-792-3121 ext. 6536 or thyde@newtondailynews.com