If you love to sing on stage in front of a wildly cheering crowd and if you’re a Greenport student, alumni, or faculty member (past or present), here’s your final chance to participate in the Greenport Idol competition.
On May 12 Greenport will say farewell to Greenport Idol. Guidance counselor Brandi Hopkins, who is helping to organize the event, says that the show has been held on and off since its inception and times are changing. “Even the real American Idol isn’t on anymore,” she says. “Maybe in the future we’ll do another kind of competition — maybe Greenport Voice or something like that.”
The original Greenport Idol was held in 2005 in memory of Dr. Dennis Claire, a beloved English teacher who died suddenly in May, 2004. Claire taught for 25 years at the school; Hopkins speaks fondly of him, saying that he was a mentor to many of the faculty that are still working at the school.
“He meant a lot to the community, to the teachers, students and staff at the school,” she said. “We wanted to bring Idol back one more time to give thanks and a nod to Dr. Claire.”
“We’d like to have a new generation be able to understand who he was and what he did,” added special education teacher Mike Sage, who is also helping organize this year’s show.
Claire was well known for his creative and enthusiastic teaching, his humor and his dedication to the school. Although he taught in the upper grades, he would often visit elementary classrooms, dressing up and telling stories to the younger kids.
This final Greenport Idol will also hold a tribute to Gary Lillis, a former science teacher at the school who recently passed away.
Hopkins would like to make this send-off Idol the biggest ever and encourages alumni, faculty and students to participate.
Solo acts, bands and groups are all invited to perform. For information or to sign up, email Brandi Hopkins at hopkins@gufsd.org. Students can sign up at the guidance office or room 318.
Greenport Idol will be held on May 12 at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium. The event is run by the Greenport Teachers Association and all money raised goes toward scholarships.
