Arroyo’s performing arts students, which included people in choir, band, theater, cheerleading, colorguard, comedy sports, and dance club, showed off their hard work and talent on stage during Arroyo’s 68th annual Winter Assembly on December 8th. Through the hard work of the organizations’ leaders and coordination of the Performing Arts Department Chair Ms. Jennifer Stanley, Arroyo’s performers were able to display their programs to their classmates and faculty.

“I enjoyed the assembly. It was entertaining because the band sounded really good. The choir was my favorite part because they had really nice voices and I liked the songs they sang,” Alena Nava, junior, said.

Students from all the different performing arts organizations displayed what they have learned this school year in their performances. Students sang, danced, acted, and performed to Christmas and holiday music.

“I enjoyed the winter assembly because I got to see different people perform, I got to see the cheerleaders do their thing, and got to see the Drama. It was really cool to see different groups perform,” Alma Molina, senior, said.

Students enjoyed the holiday spirit throughout the assembly and watching all of Arroyo’s performers display their talents. The performances were well executed by the students and therefore were well-received by the audience.

“I thought the assembly went really well, the students were really happy with their performances. People have been giving me really positive comments about it and kids were saying that their friends really liked it. The students in the audience were very respectful and were a good audience, we enjoyed performing for them,” Ms. Stanley said.

The Winter Assembly could not have been possible without Ms. Stanley, who organized and coordinated the assembly. As the Choir Director and the Performing Arts department chair, she made sure all programs ran smoothly and were represented in the assembly. 

“I was working with all the other teachers that were the directors of the other groups in finding out their performance time and finding out what they wanted to do. I put everything together in the program order and I coordinated and organized everyone so they knew when they were supposed to be doing what,” Ms. Stanley said.

The Winter Assembly is an Arroyo tradition, and a lot of pride goes into making sure the event is up to standards. The different programs worked hard to represent themselves well and expose the audience to all the great work they do and all the fun they have.

“The assembly has a really long history at Arroyo, it has happened every December since the school opened in 1955. So I think the biggest challenge is making sure that every area of performing arts is represented so students know all the visual and performing arts opportunities they have,” Ms. Stanley said.

The assembly took weeks to plan because there were so many moving pieces behind the scenes that the audience didn’t see. With so many students and programs participating in the assembly, it required a lot of coordination and practice.

“There were 300 student performers in the assembly. From the audience you can notice that there are kids in the small gym, students on the side, students on the other side, and everyone is always moving so I think that the logistics of it are really difficult. Behind the scenes, there is a lot of stuff going on to keep that [assembly] moving, Ms. Stanley said.

The logistics of the assembly took a lot of effort to sort out and perfect. Despite the struggles, the event was successful because students, whether they were performers or audience members, enjoyed the entertainment and Arroyo’s great tradition was continued. “It was really the best possible outcome,” Ms. Stanley said.