​The Stanbridge Academy student basketball team trounced the staff players at the annual Staff versus Student Basketball game at the Martin Luther King Community Center in San Mateo last week.
 
Although the Staff team led 13-10 at the half, younger legs won out with the students making up the deficit and winning 28-22.
 
“The student’s performance in the second half was uncanny,” said High School Teacher John Barnett. “It was like wolverine was on the other team, and he willed his team to victory…again.”
 
The Bulldogs were led by top scorer and Bulldog Award winner Stevie Harvey.
 
“I was happy to win the Bulldog award because it’s about more than being good at basketball; it’s about sportsmanship and effort too,” said Stevie.
 
Students and staff came out to support both teams with handmade signs.
 
“On my sign I drew to cartoons from the Peanuts movie and wrote ‘Snoopy and Woodstock wish you good luck,” said one junior high student. “It was an amazing game. Both teams were really aggressive, and there were a lot of great plays.”
 
One of the most unbelievable plays of the game was when Upper Elementary Teacher Teresa Calano made a reverse hook shot for two points in the second half.
 
“The boys were too tall to shoot over so I did a reverse hook shot,” said Teresa. “It was pure luck that I made it!”
 
The afternoon concluded with a short ceremony back Stanbridge in the Marilyn Center. In addition to a few special awards including the Bulldog Award, Sportsmanship, and Most Improved, each of the student players was congratulated on a season well done and presented with a framed team photo.
 
“Right now the Bay Area Small School Athletic League (BASSAL) is just getting off the blocks,” said Coach Mark Kelley. “...but next year it’s going to be even better organized with more games and sports. Basketball is the hub of this league.”
 
This is the seventh year the staff versus student basketball game has taken place. The students currently lead the series 4-3. 

Last week, Stanbridge Academy students of all ages entertained an audience of their family members and peers at the 2016 Talent Show. More than 20 students braved the spotlight to perform an assortment of talents from singing and dancing to playing the piano to a homemade, stop-motion animation.
 
“Since we are a K-12 school and are such a supportive community, our talent shows tend to have more variety,” said Talent Show Director and Head of High School Jay Huston. “Our students feel comfortable to show off non-traditional skills and participate in cross-divisional acts.”
 
One of those multi-grade acts included two middle elementary school students and one high school senior rocking out to “We’re not Gonna Take it” by Twisted Sister.
 
 “They’re awesome kids and it’s an awesome song. Why wouldn’t I perform with them?” asked the senior rhetorically. “Age doesn’t matter to me.”
 
Jay says Stanbridge has a talent show for the same reasons as any other school: to showcase the parts of students that aren’t revealed during the regular school day.
 
“But we have an additional reason,” said Jay. “To give our students, whom have been stifled and hidden at previous schools, a chance to shine!”
 
“I always like going up and performing in front of a large group of people,” said a junior high student who sang Ghost Town. “Adam Lambert is my favorite singer so it was an obvious choice.”
 
Staff members also delighted the audience with a hilarious skit. 
 
“Whether it was impersonating late 1990s WWF wrestlers with my friends as kids or performing stand-up comedy in college, I have always loved to perform,” said High School Math Teacher Matt Juul. “When I gather with the staff for a formal or an informal meeting, I'm usually not as talkative. So it was great to not only work with a talented cast but to show Stanbridge that I can entertain an audience.”
 
Although the event was managed by staff members, the show was hosted by a high school senior.
 
“I don’t really like to perform, but I like public speaking,” said the Emcee. “I think the show went really well. A few of the bands were awesome.”
 
Videos of the whole show are available on YouTube. Click here to watch

"I didn't think about it; I just started to boogie!"
 
That’s how Upper Elementary Teacher Jerrod Nelson described his experience dancing with the performers from Jabali Afrika.
 
Jabali Afrika was the second of five assemblies hosted by Stanbridge Academy this academic year and featured two Kenyan musicians. The duo combines classic African rhythms with original compositions and makes them come alive on a wide variety of musical instruments including drums, guitar, and a kudu horn. The interactive performance concluded with teacher and student volunteers learning to do traditional Kenyan dance moves.
 
“I do ballet, and I like to choreograph routines at home, “ said a high school student who volunteered to dance. “I thought it’d be fun to learn new dance moves—they were more hip hop-y—so I volunteered.”
 
Getting to participate is definitely a highlight of each performance for the students.
 
“I’d probably say my favorite was the Egypt assembly, because it was really hands on,” said one junior high student. “I mean, we got to touch a snake!”
 
During the Egyptian Animals assembly, students learned hieroglyphics, dressed up in the guises of Pharaohs, and even got to pet snakes, turtles, and pygmy goat.
 
Other assemblies so far this year have been Ready, Set, JUMP with Physical Comedic Performer April Vollm and Joe “The Trick Star” Odhiambo.
 
“My favorite was the Joe Odhiambo assembly, because it was interactive, and I love basketball,” said a high school student.
 
The enrichment assembly program was started several years ago to bring educational entertainment into the school.
 
“We thought the kids would really enjoy the entertainment, but we also wanted to have some educational value in the assemblies we chose,” said SPA Assembly Coordinator Jackie Donaho, who scheduled this year’s events. “I tried to mix it up in the past with pure entertainment, like "The Chinese Acrobats" and the  "Science of Sound" which had an educational theme mixed in. "Ready, Set, Jump" mixes comedy with the importance of physical activity.”
 
There is only one assembly left on the 2015-2016 calendar: Robotics on Wednesday, March 23. Click here to learn more!
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