So be true to your school now, just like you would to your girl or guy. Be true to your school now, and let your colours fly. Be true to your school.
So sang The Beach Boys in their classic 1963 song “Be True to Your School.”
A group of MacLeod Public School students showed their school pride during the April 5 Beach Boys concert at the Sudbury Community Arena, cheerleading on stage in school colours as the group performed “Be True to Your School.”
So how did this come to be? Peter Michelutti, the grandfather of a MacLeod student, is a friend of Tim Bonhomme, a native of Sudbury who’s the keyboard player with The Beach Boys.
Attending a performance by the group in Naples, Florida, on March 2, Michelutti said he had met up with his old friend and other band members, and they said they wanted to do something special at their upcoming Sudbury concert.
Remembering a show around a decade ago when they invited cheerleaders on stage to dance during “True to Your School,” Michelutti was asked if he could arrange for a Sudbury school to take part, which is how MacLeod was brought in.
Michelutti’s granddaughter, Grade 5 student Vivi Michelutti, was one of the students who took part, along with several of her friends — Rachel Kolari, Molly Dodge, Preeya Mulligan-Gratton, Huner Badyal, Ainsley Hyndman and Alice Ajub.
“I had goosebumps,” Michelutti said. “It's like watching an overtime hockey game. I was so nervous, but they pulled it off. The teachers who taught them at the school did an incredible job preparing them. They only had about maybe two weeks to get prepared for this.”
MacLeod principal Kerri Monaghan said it was very exciting seeing her students up on stage.
“I couldn't believe how brave they were,” she said. “As soon as they hit that stage, they did not flinch. I said to them, ‘You guys were so good that you might be touring with them soon.They were prepared, though, right? Like they practiced for two straight weeks, all their recesses.”
Monaghan also gives kudos to the two student teachers from Laurentian University, Janika Lapp and Gabriella White, who were given the task of preparing the students.
“I just texted the student teachers, I'm like, ‘Hey, is there anyone here who dances or wants to come up with a dance routine for the kids?’ And I had two of the young student teachers come down, and they did a wonderful job. They kind of took it as a little project on their placement, and they did amazing. And they were there that night too.”
As if appearing on stage with The Beach Boys wasn’t enough, the group of MacLeod students received a special surprise before the performance — a video greeting from actor John Stamos.
Best known for his work on the 1980s and 1990s sitcom Full House, Stamos has had a long association with The Beach Boys.
“I want to wish you good luck, MacLeod Mustangs,” Stamos said, in his video greeting. “Dancing with The Beach Boys, it’s a thrill, it’s an honour, and I wish I was in Sudbury with you. But have a great night.”
Getting that greeting from Stamos was “awesome, and he’s still so cute,” said Monaghan.
“They (The Beach Boys) just did a lot of really neat things to make the kids feel really special. When we got to the arena that night, they had a change room for them …They had Beach Boys t-shirts for them and for the two student teachers. So they all got to leave with a great little memento from the night.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.