The Performing Arts Department’s production of “Fame, The Musical,” opens Friday, February 26th at 7:30 pm.  A cast and crew numbering well over 50 students are busy putting the finishing touches on dance moves, musical numbers and sets in anticipation of the opening.  Performances continue on Saturday at 7:30 pm, and Sunday at 2:00 pm.

According to director Brad Fairbanks, talent from throughout Prep’s music programs will provide the “pit” music, and members of the advanced stagecraft class are manning light boards and spots, and building sets.  The story is set in the 1980s, and deals with the age-old issue of arts vs academics.

Advance tickets are on sale at Prep every day this week from 2:30 to 3:30 pm, and at the door 45 minutes prior to each performance.  Prices are $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors.

Members of Prep’s Student Council and Social Activism Club recently completed the largest and most successful student-led fundraiser in school history, raising over $5,000 for Mercy Corps and Doctors Without Borders to help victims of the Haiti earthquake.

“The Student Council is extremely honored to represent a community that cares so much about the world around them, and we thank everyone who donated to the relief fund,” said Student Council vice president Alex Wirth.

Online donations to Mercy Corps were used to help a response team in Haiti set up shelters, and distribute food and supplies to the more than three million Haitians affected by the quake.  Cash donations collected on campus went to Doctors Without Borders to fund makeshift hospitals and medical care.

Nearly all of Prep’s 230 upper school students joined other Santa Fe teens at the Roundhouse today in support of stronger DWI legislation.  The DWI Day activities included a press conference, with Prep senior Maria Ashkin speaking about losing classmates Kate Klein and Alyssa Trouw last summer to an alleged drunk driver.  Students then observed a minute of silence and completed a “March of Sorrow” through the Capitol building in remembrance of their friends and other DWI victims.

State Senator Peter Wirth, a Prep alum and current parent, has introduced three bills designed to strengthen current DWI laws so that offenders serve their jail time, are sentenced under the DWI statute, and are considered felons with a third offense.