Benefit show a success despite time constraint

Students strutted the runway in apparel from sleepwear to prom dresses during the annual Benefit Fashion Show, which took place on March 17 in the Large Gym.

The show, produced by Head Benefit Commissioners seniors Annie Barco, Kari Clark, and Anika Jhalani, featured 120 students. This year’s production was titled “Life’s a Show.”

“It’s a little bit of magic, a little bit of mystery and a lot about giving back to the community,” assistant principal Karen Hyde said in her opening statement.

This year, the $7,800 raised will go to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital to fund research and treatment for pediatric diseases.

Unlike last year when Benefit raised money for the Special Olympics, no representatives from the organization went to the show.

“In fairness, we didn’t get a lot of support from them,” Hyde said. “This was done single-handedly with it going out to a charity with whom we’ve had virtually no contact, so this is truly just giving it away.”

Benefit has been raising money for the community for the past 30 years. Beginning with a casino night, it evolved into a dance and 10 years ago, into a fashion show.

The evening also featured a silent auction beginning at 7 p.m. Donated items such as a painting by sophomore Maddy Thomas, a CD by well-known local pianist Jon Nakamatsu (husband of chemistry teacher Kathy Nakamatsu), a bowl by ceramics teacher Leah Aguayo and various cooking products and tools were sold. An iPad, a San Jose Sharks sign and jersey with players’ autographs were also available during the auction.

The fashion show itself began at 7:30. Freshman girls sported Saratoga clothing in a theme called “Toga Wear.” Sophomores modeled local sports clothing, and junior girls showed off dresses and tops for a “girls’ night out.” Preschool and elementary school children also walked the runway in “children’s wear,” drawing a large amount of “awws” from the audience.

An intermission followed with vocal performances by junior Shireen Kaul and Shayda Khorasani and the local acappella group Tensync. A table of desserts was available for the audience to enjoy.

Following the intermission, senior and junior boys modeled clothing from senior Salmaan Javed’s clothing line, Top Shelf. Freshman girls showed off sleepwear, and juniors walked the runway in clothes suitable for a “first date.” Seniors concluded the fashion show in college wear and prom apparel.

The turnout was higher than expected, with most of the seats and a whole side of bleachers filled. Barco credits this to the flyers that the commissioners had put in the classrooms, extra credit given by teachers and the promotional video.

“We’ve never done [the video] before, so I think that might’ve helped,” Barco said. “There were a lot of students in the bleachers. That was our whole thought, of having students sit in the bleachers, but I didn’t really think that many would come.”

Due to the time constraint for this year’s show, the head commissioners did not begin most of their work until a month ago. They ran into trouble with obtaining clothing from stores since Los Gatos High had its fashion show on March 31.

“I was worried about how given the fact that we literally put it together in the last month, two months, really one month,” Barco said. “It was a surprise, and it felt good to see our hard work pay off.”

The day before the show Hyde and the commissioners discovered that pipe and drape, or the black curtain on the set, was unavailable. Barco’s father used rolls of black paper and wire as a substitution.

“I had visions of disaster, and when that music started and the kids started to walk, it was magical. It really was,” Hyde said. “They pulled it off; it was pretty amazing, what they created out there, so it was a delight. The mystery was a success.”