From high school hallways to the Grammys
C lara A ltemus ______________
From performing at the
600 seat WLHS auditorium
to the 20,000 seat Staples
Center Stage for the
Grammy broadcast on
years ago. After sending in
a YouTube video audition,
she was accepted during
Thanksgiving break.
"I was go-carting with
friends when they called.
Photo courtesy of Emma Davis
Davis meets with Esperanza Spalding before the Awards show.
S p a ld in g , o r ig in a lly fro m P o rtla n d , w a s a w a rd e d 'B e s t N e w A rtis t'
of 2011.
national television.
Emma Davis, senior, was
one of three high school
students chosen to sing
at the prestigious awards
ceremony. Davis had been
introduced to the Grammy
world after watching her
sister perform there two
I jumped up and down,"
Davis said. "They didn't
want me to tell anyone for
press issues, but I told my
friends anyway."
"We rehearsed for three
days and then started
playing gigs around town,"
Davis said. The Grammy
Choir, which consisted of
eight students from around
the country, was scheduled
to perform many times
proceeding the awards
ceremony, including at
Grammy in the Schools
live and as back-up to Sara
Bareilles.
"They paid for
everything," Davis added
of the all-expenses paid
trip that included her hotel,
meals and time around
town.
The real experience came
on her fourth day after
arriving, when she found a
whole new challenge.
"I jumped up and down
and screamed," Davis said
of her reaction to being told
that she was being asked
to sing on the Grammy
Telecast.
"It's pretty surreal
practicing on the Staples
Center Stage." Two other
students from the choir
were asked to perform
with Esperanza Spalding,
a Portland singer awarded
'Best New Artist'.
"Surreal is a good way
to describe it," Davis said
when the break was close
to the end, they made
everyone clap."It wasn't
scary," Davis said, adding
"I forgot I was on live
television."
As well as having an
opportunity of a lifetime,
Davis was able to meet
many famous artists
including Cee Lo Green and
Janelle Monae, singers, and
Seth Rogen, actor.
"Everyone is great, and
classical voice lessons with
a voice teacher, but wasn't
serious about it until she
was cast to play Maria in
"The Sound of Music". Ever
since then she's been more
involved in musical theater,
competitions and other
singing events.
On top of singing,
Davis is one of the leading
musicians in band,
according to Kevin Egan,
band teacher. "She works
o f p e rfo rm in g . B e fo re th e y
w e n t o n , D a v is a n d th e tw o
th e y are so m e o f th e n ic e s t
p e o p le I ’v e m e t," D a v is
h a rd e r th a n a n y b o d y
e lse ," h e sa id . "S h e is an
others were lead under the
stage to wait for their cue.
"We watched monitors to
show us what was going
on," she said.
When the commercial
break hit, the group was
showed onto the stage.
They counted down and
said, "We all share the
common love for music
and jazz, so it's great to be
able to share this amazing
experience with wonderful
people."
Davis first began singing
four years ago when she
started taking private
incredible and dedicated
musician and one to excel."
With her experience
at the Grammys over,
Davis plans to continue
her singing career
through college as well as
continuing to focus on her
academics.
Photo courtesy of Emma Davis
Emma Davis, senior, stands with fellow members of the Grammy Jazz
Choir. The choir performed at many venues preceding the awards
show, including Grammy in the Schools Live and as back-up to Sara
Bareilles.
Young scientists advance past regional competition
continued from page 1
She also won the Award
for Excellence in Scientific
Research in Environmental
Health.
"It's nice to feel like
people care about and
appreciate all the hard
work the project took,"
Bernert said. "When I
found out I was advancing,
I was really excited and
motivated to begin more
experiments and improve
my presentation board. I'm
looking forward to meeting
other kids from all over
the world (at ISEF) and
learning about the other
projects. I'm excited to see
if there are other endophyte
projects."
Chang's project on
investigating Acyl-
homoserine Lactone
based quorum sensing in
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
biofilm development
took first place in his
category, Microbiology,
and also received the In
Vitro Biology Award and a
scholarship for $2,000 a year
to Oregon State University.
"It was an honor to be
selected to present at ISEF,"
Chang said. "I went last
year as an observer and
dreamed of going there as a
finalist."
Traveling with the pair
will be Adrianna Horsey,
freshman, who placed first
in Behavioral Science: Social
Psychology and Sociology.
She will be there as an
observer.
"All of the winners this
year have gone to ISEF to
observe before," Horsey
said. "This will allow me to
see what it's like. I'm excited
to see what is there, not just
from the US, but from other
countries as well."
Advancing to the
International Sustainability
World Project Olympiad
in Houston, Texas from
May 4 to May 9 is James
Siderius, junior. His project,
a sustainable cyclical energy
harvesting concept for
ocean sensing, placed first
in the Physics, Chemistry
and Mathematics Category.
Siderius also received
NOAA's Taking the Pulse
of the Planet Award, Most
Creative Project Idea from
CREST and the Multi-
Disciplinary Research
Award.
"When I qualified for the
International Sustainability
Olympiad I was quite
thrilled,” Sidierius said.
"My project fits the fair
categories so perfectly, so I
think I will get some valid
suggestions for how to
improve the chemical and
engineering aspects of a
future product."
Awards
Best of Fair
Ann Bernert (Life and
Environmental Sciences)
Spencer Chang
(Microbiology)
Most Outstanding
Sustainability Award
James Siderius
(Physics, Chemistry and
Mathematics)
Fantasy author Ursula Le Guin
visits West Linn Library
C hrisamn K im
With a m ind-blow ing
number of 20 novels and nu
merous short stories, 81-year-
old author Ursula K. Le Guin
is infamous for her many
great fantasy and science-
fiction novels. On March
16, West Linn hosted a rare,
extraordinary visit from Le
Guin herself at the West Linn
Public Library at 6:30 p.m.
Le Guin has been a suc
cessful author of children's
novels, fantasy, science fiction
novels and many collections
of essays.
Le Guin's well known
series, "Books of Earthsea"
has sold millions of copies
in America and England. The
Earthsea chronology consists
of 12 books in total. Each
novel in the series received
an award. The first book,
"A Wizard of Earthsea" was
translated into 15 separate
languages. In 2005, "Books
of Earthsea" was adapted
into an animated film called
"Tales from Earthsea" by film
director Hayao Miyazaki.
Le Guin arrived with sev
eral hosts with livelihood and
excitement. The seated crowd
went from approximately 15
at the beginning of her arrival
to at least 30 moments after Le
Guin arrived. The crowd was
comprised of both middle
school and high school stu
dents as well as adults.
For at least 30 minutes,
Le Guin read the first two
chapters of her famous novel,
"A Wizard of Earthsea." She
was a fabulous storyteller.
Between paragraphs, she
explained the history behind
the character's name and the
making of the story.
continued on page 6