On Friday June 3rd, the Menomonee Falls High School Spanish Honors Society will be teaming up with the Menomonee Falls High School student council to put on their annual Walking with Children Benefit Concert. Spanish Honors Society began working with Mrs. Novak (the advisor of student council) three years ago when a group of students became interested in helping children in Honduras suffering from AIDs and HIVs.
Originally, the concert was a sort of mixer; students came in to dance and donations went to the cause. However, students felt a benefit concert would bring in bigger crowds. “We saw it as a good opportunity to help out a part of the Spanish speaking world that isn’t usually tended to,” said Mr. Haubenrich, the advisor of Spanish Honors Society.
The concert will take place in the MFHS cafeteria, where attendees will be able to enjoy more than just great talent. There will also be a variety of food available for purchase including but not limited to, the Spanish Honors Society’s famous walking tacos, bratwursts from the German Honors Society and egg rolls from the Japanese Honors Society.
With a suggested entrance donation of only three to five dollars, audience members will see 15 student performers and groups. “This year the performance dynamics have changed a lot from past years,” said Haubenrich. “There are more bands, even though it’s not a battle of the bands type of event.” The stage will also be revisited by 2010 MFHS graduate Marcus Keys, who will be performing hip hop music.
And with MFHS’ own Cain and Abel and Thieves Theme, the Walking with Children Benefit Concert is expecting large crowds. New this year is a two song set list by seniors Ben Dederich, Nick Mathers, and Logan Crain. These musically talented, and much anticipated, MFHS students will be performing covers of a Kid Cudi song, and a song by The Shins. “Our group is simply vocals, guitar, bass, and drums, playing music that MFHS students will recognize and love,” said Dederich.
There’s more to the Walking with Children Benefit Concert however, than raising awareness for the condition of life in many Honduran homes. The event also provides a positive artistic avenue to students. Mr. Haubenrich, who is a passionate supporter of the arts, explained that, “There are people at this school with definite musical talent, and high school is a great time for them to stretch out and try new things. This concert is a chance for many people to showcase their music in a more untraditional setting.”
This year’s event will be the fourth annual Walking with Children Benefit Concert to happen at MFHS. Head of the student council’s involvement is Becca Fuchs, who told “Smoke Signals” what her motivation was for getting involved. “It sometimes feels as if the condition of the United States affects some people’s willingness to participate in something that isn’t necessarily increasing a person’s personal finances, but could very well be enhancing that person’s brownie points in heaven,” said Fuchs. And she is so right.