The Pagosa Center for the Arts was flooded with more than 200 people, ready to be entertained by Pagosa Peak Open School (PPOS) students who worked all semester on creating a seasonal variety show for the community.
PPOS serves grades K-8, and is tuition-free and open to all Archuleta County families.
PPOS Creatives Advisor Rain March organized, facilitated, planned and prepared the show.
It was the school’s third year of presenting the “Snow Show” — and the first year the school presented at the Pagosa Center for the Arts after the community feedback from the previous year suggested the need for a bigger space.
PPOS was grateful to have the Moore family agree to letting the school use the theater space, which elevated the performance and provided the students with a professional, authentic setting for their celebration of learning. Every student was represented in the “Snow Show,” and presented their learning around the Colorado music and drama standards that align with each grade level. Students acted in musicals and plays, sang songs, and played instruments like recorders, ocarinas, guitars, drums and xylophones.
Bits of humor were sprinkled throughout the 45-minute show while the audience ate homemade gingerbread men cookies and drank hot chocolate. A rendition of “Cinderella” included the Evil Stepmother demanding organic vegetables from the store, and the Prince offering Cinderella a job with a 401k. The first-grade chickens and turkeys in the “Gingerbread Man” pecked at each other and bobbled around while the animals chased their cookie prey. The Grinch dramatically snuck around the middle-schoolers, stealing their props and running off.
The show ended with a sing-a-long of “Let it Snow” that included audience participation.
“It was magical,” said kindergarten advisor Maggie Saunders.
Students shared the sentiment.
“I loved it in that theater, and so did my mom,” said first-grader Zaiden, who played a turtle in the “Gingerbread Man” musical. “She was so proud of me, and I was proud of me, too.”
PPOS is a district-authorized charter school focused on implementing a project-based learning curriculum in a restorative practices environment. Authentic audiences and settings where students share their learning are foundational to project-based learning.
Emily Murphy is School Director at Pagosa Peak Open School, the first District-authorized charter school in Archuleta County. Prior to her appointment as School Director, Emily filled various roles at PPOS including Project-Based Learning advisor, instructional coach, and assistant director.