BY DIGHAN KELLY

Staff Writer

At some high schools, pep rallies are the best assemblies of the year. At a Baldwin assembly on Thursday, students poured into the central parking lot to hear performances by three national recording acts, tour a mobile recording studio, and try their hand at painting, playing guitars and drums, and experimenting with D.J. mixing boards.

The High School Nation and John Lennon Bus tour made one of its 20 national stops at Baldwin to help celebrate the arts. Baldwin students got into the action, cheering on the performers and visiting stations devoted to art and music.

“I painted a flower, and we’re getting a glitter tattoo,” sophomore Isabel Havey said. “I’m having fun.”

During the two-hour program, students explored stations featuring canvasses, glitter paints, musical instruments with playback technology, and also heard live music performances from the alternative band Stamps, R&B singer Justine Skye, and R&B singer Trevor Jackson.

Vice Principal Janeen Peretin coordinated the program and acted as the liaison with the Lennon Bus and High School Nation officials.

One goal of the day, she said, was to encourage students to explore the arts.

“Hopefully it will generate an interest for some students, so that they will take an art or music class,” Peretin said.

Earlier in the day, a roundtable discussion focused on the importance of arts education.  The forum, streamed live on the Internet, featured students Lindsay Roadarmel, Molly Whittaker, Kalee George, who discussed their experience and participation in Baldwin’s music programs.

Students in newspaper, yearbook, and video production programs covered the event and interviewed the three musical acts in a media tent.

Despite a storm that burst toward the end of the program, students overall responded positively to the day.    

“I like it a lot,” junior Morgan Geyer said. “I think it’s a great experience.”