West’s Community Inclusion Club held its annual talent show on April 18 in the north band room. During the show, the students who participated showed a variety of talents, ranging from singing to fashion to magic tricks.
The show began as a puppet show that Steve Merkle, a paraeducator at West, would do with his class, but it began to grow as they collaborated with Diane Miller to expand the show to include more musical talents and have peer tutors help with it.
“We made puppets and we did a puppet show. March across the stage and everybody would cheer when their kid had a puppet and maybe we did a little bit of music and it lasts maybe 15 to 20 minutes. Then Diane Miller got on board with our music class and she’s taken it to a whole new level. We got a lot of volunteer kids are kids that can sign up for the class as peer tutors, and they get involved in just seeing that connection with a lot of the kids this year has been one of my favorite things,” Merkle said.
Merkle started the show to help students become comfortable with performing in front of people.
“Well, I just thought working with this population of students, they don’t often see the limelight or have a performance, hence the name. I wanted the parents to see their kid’s upfront performance, even though it was pretty simple and small. We got him up there, and they did it,” he said.
The crowd was made up of both West High students and parents and gathered in the north band room at 6:30 p.m. to watch the show. Many of the night’s performers are a part of Miller’s community music class and have been practicing for weeks.
The night started with “Jambo Bwana” sung by Jile Musa ’26 and Amadou Katile ’26 on bells, followed by Akshara Karthikeyan ’26 playing “I See the Light” on piano. Some of the following acts included Molly Greer ’26 doing sign language to a song written and played by her mother, Maureen Greer, on piano and fashion by Alexis Escher ’26.
For a full list of acts and performers, the program can be found here.
With the funds raised by the talent show the CIC traveled to Camp Courageous last week to engage in several outdoor activities. The trip, held April 24 through 26, allowed members of the special education community to experience a petting zoo, train rides, climbing, archery and more.
Camp Courageous is a summer camp located in Jones County along the Maquoketa River. It is specifically for people with disabilities who may not otherwise be able to attend a summer camp. The camp also offers other programs, such as weekend getaways and day camps.
