NASHUA, NH – On Monday morning, a parade of yellow school buses formed in front of the Nashua Center of the Arts on Main Street. They were there to deliver hundreds of second-grade students from each of Nashua’s 12 public elementary schools.
The 900 students were guests of Nashua Community Arts. The non-profit, in coordination with Spectacle Live, organized this one-of-a-kind school trip to see the “Pete the Cat” musical. Buses and tickets, and two performances were provided free of charge to the children. The funds were raised at the charity gala held last summer.
“Pete the Cat’ is a popular character from a series of children’s books. The cartoon cat first appeared in the book, Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes, in 2008. The series has since expanded to include over 80 books, animated television series, and musicals. Judging by the excitement of the 2nd-grade crowd, Pete is well-known and very popular.
Mary Ann Melizzi-Golja is a board member of Nashua Community Arts and a speech pathologist. She explained the reasons for selecting this program and audience by saying, “We decided grade two was a good target group because they’re a little more mature. The kids learning English will have a little more English. And the school district provided Pete the Cat books to their schools in Spanish and Portuguese.”
“The show isn’t based on one book, but on who Pete the Cat is. He’s this really cool guy who helps people. The kids heard the books in their primary language, which is really good. They got a sense of Pete. The hearing-impaired students also heard the stories because they have sign interpreters in the school.
Second-grade teacher Beth Ausebith from Broad Street Elementary said about the book. “The kids read them for pleasure. They’ve kind of grown up with them since they were in preschool. reading Pete the Cat. And now, when they’re in second grade, they’re reading them independently.”
Teacher Molly Liakos was at the first show with 47 Mount Pleasant students. She was happy the kids could have this experience. In the past, they have brought students to the Peacock Players for field trips, but the students have had to walk and pay for tickets, with the cost putting the experience out of reach for some.
“We are extremely grateful for this. It’s nice to give the kids the permission slip and say, “All you need to do is give me the form back, and it costs zero dollars”. This is your ticket! So we took a bus here, and we had free tickets for the show, and a lot of them have never even been to a live show. It was fun watching them walk in they are so excited.” said Liakos.