North Allegheny Senior High School Students
Set the Stage for Talent Show

By Rosemary Garrity

Students at North Allegheny Senior High School will not only have the opportunity to showcase their talent at the school’s first talent show Friday, Feb. 2, but also help raise funds for Highmark Caring Place.

Noting that the North Allegheny Intermediate and Middle Schools have had successful talent shows in the past, NASH senior Katie Zemel, right, the show’s student director, decided it was time for the senior high school students to stage their own talent show.

Zemel’s involvement last year in a dance performance called the North Allegheny Collaborative Art Project 2006 inspired her to organize a talent show at the senior high that would benefit a local charity.

Many students have responded to the call for talent, Zemel said, including several male and female soloists, dancers, a cellist, a girl and a guy band, and Irish dancers.

“It’s so exciting to see such a great reaction from the student body. There are so many talented individuals at North Allegheny and hopefully through this endeavor, we will be able to collaborate the arts and education with community needs,” Zemel said.

The talent show is sponsored by the NASH student council and all the students working on it are determined to make it successful. “Katie has been the driving force behind the show,” said Patti Dzambo, student council advisor.

Highmark Caring Place opened its doors in 1997 in downtown Pittsburgh to provide a place where both children and adults grieving for the loss of a loved one can come together to find hope. Supported by community contributions, the Caring Place was chosen as the beneficiary of the talent show because several NASH students have used its services. Highmark Blue Shield matches every dollar that is donated.

The dedicated staff provides help to grieving children and families when it is most needed. Support services are provided at no cost.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers player Merril Hoge has been the Chairman of the board of the Highmark Caring Foundation since 1999.  In 2003, Hoge was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma cancer.  After a series of chemotherapy treatments that left him bald, and with a personal determination to win the battle against cancer, he did exactly that.  He is now cancer free. Hoge realizes how lucky he is; his personal experience with cancer has made him more determined to dedicate himself to the work of the Caring Place.

It is easy to understand why the student council chose the Caring Place to receive the profits from the talent show.  Zemel and other NASH students are working hard to make the show a success so that a large amount of funds will be donated to the Caring Place.

In addition to charging an admission fee of $8, students are planning to put together a program and are looking for local businesses and others who want to place ads.  s

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