TELLURIDE – The Telluride Schools’ Michael Palm Theatre got a hefty boost last month from its premiere and subsequent showings of Aldasoro part-time homeowner Tom Cruise’s new film, Valkyrie.
“With the three screenings,” Palm Executive Director Heather Rommel told the Telluride R-1 School District board at its Tuesday night meeting, “the Palm was able to raise over $28,000, with very limited costs.”
Those limited costs totaled up to just over $3,000, putting almost $25,000 in the Palm coffers – a welcome contribution, in this first year during which the theater has to function on its own.
The Palm’s production of A Christmas Carol broke even, Rommel reported, but was well-received by theatergoers, and the two-night performance of China’s Golden Dragon Acrobats pulled in just over one-thousand attendees, down from other years, but not too surprisingly so, since “some locals, having seen this performance in the past, may have chosen not to come a second or third time,” Rommel said.
Superintendent Mary Rubadeau announced the addition of a new member, former Town Councilmember Robert Weatherford, to the Theatre Advisory Committee. Weatherford is president of the board of the Telluride Repertory Theatre, which will stage The Sound of Music March 26-29, at the Palm, as well.
The Palm’s membership program has generated $17,550 to date; received grants are expected to tally slightly more than $40,000, once the final numbers are in for the African Children’s Choir, Ballet Folklorico performances and the Town of Telluride’s CCAASE. Already accounted for are $17,000 from the Telluride Foundation; $5,000 from Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association; $1,500 from Just for Kids; and $1,750 from the Telluride Education Foundation.
Politics, Education and Entertainment
The Palm Theatre will host a student audience for the Tuesday morning inauguration of President-Elect Barack Obama; the inauguration is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., Mountain Time. The Telluride R-1 School District has teamed up with the Telluride Ski and Snowboard Club to present a free screening of The Fine Line, on Wednesday, Jan. 21. Showtime is 8 p.m. at the Palm. On Friday, Jan. 30, the Telluride Jazz Celebration brings Karrin Allyson to the school for a special presentation (to be followed by her show at the Palm later that night). A Telluride Community Television fundraiser, with a hush-hush special guest, takes place Saturday, Feb. 21.
Homecoming Masquerade at the Elks
Homecoming plans are shaping up for a Homecoming Masquerade-theme party Saturday, Jan. 31. The high school basketball game against Dolores that night will be followed by a party at the Elks from 8 p.m.-midnight.
Student Enrichment Programs Pay Off
Using student assessment results, academic performance goals set by the district’s Data Committee and classroom performance data, individual and cohort plans designed for students who need enrichment are paying off.
“They performed well this year,” High School Principal Alex Carter reported of students once deemed at-risk for academic failure. Teachers of all students are “focused on developing 21st century learning and instruction in their classrooms,” he added, and work has commenced to “prepare for a shift” for all students “to a more engaging and student-centered instructional model” at the high school. The high school “continues to offer computer literacy classes and promotes the use of advanced technology in regular classroom instruction,” he said, with teachers regularly using LCD projectors, mobile laptop workstations, Smartboard, and other instructional technology.
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