Getting into the act

Danette Goulet

COSTA MESA -- Teeny-bopper screams, like the high-pitched squeals that

filled arenas when Elvis performed, tore through the air at TeWinkle

Middle School on Thursday morning.

It was the first Renaissance Fair of the year at TeWinkle.

The fair consumes the student body four times a year, celebrating

academic achievement with shirts, prizes and best of all -- an assembly

of student, parent and teacher performances.

“It’s fun because you get to see people’s acts and you get lots of

prizes,” said Marci Kirchberg, an eighth-grade student who has been in

the Renaissance program for the last two years.

There were moms in construction paper skirts and loud Hawaiian shirts

who did a hula number that was as wild and amusing as their outfits.

There was sixth-grader Vanessa Richardson, who wowed students with her

Olympic potential in gymnastics.

There were several female dance teams and a couple of Stone Age

rockers.

But the performance that really shook the stage and evoked screams was

a performance of boy band ‘N Sync’s “It’s Gonna Be Me.”

In his shimmering black shirt and headset, assistant principal Jeff

Gall might have passed for heartthrob Justin Timberlake, but the gaggle

of female teachers probably wouldn’t pass for his posse.

“The best is when the teachers danced,” said Cathy Pittman, 12.

“They’re really good. And they don’t let you know what it is they’re

going to do.”

All this fun does have a point, however. Although the entire school

was invited to see the riotous performances this time, only students who

get good grades earn the privilege of taking part in the Renaissance

program -- and an invitation to the next three fairs.

There are three categories of students honored: actors, who earn a

grade-point average of between 3.0 and 3.4 in the last semester;

directors, with a 3.5 to 3.9; and the producers, with a 4.0 GPA.

Students who improve their GPA by a half-point or more are also

recognized as the High 5 Club.

This year, the program was funded by a $10,000 grant from the

Newport-Mesa Schools Foundation.

It’s an incentive program that students say really works.

“Yeah, it makes you work harder,” said Nichole Caldwell, 12. “For one

thing, it gets you out of class -- even though I like class.”