Charity Fashion Show: Always Dream

By: Kevin He

Mission San Jose High School held its annual Charity Fashion show on Thursday, April 5^th, to benefit Olympic gold-medalist and MSJ alumnus Kristi Yamaguchi’s Always Dream Foundation. In addition to special performances from several different talent groups and a fashionably attired cast of MSJ models, Ms. Yamaguchi showed off a special guest model performance before the crowded seats of C-120 and gave a thank-you speech on behalf of her charity foundation.

MSJ’s Charity Fashion show was the product of many months of preparation by the entire Leadership II team. The stage of C-120 was transformed into a modeling deck with the addition of a long, artificial runway, a solitary spotlight, and the musical talents of DJ Technick. A special booth in the back of the auditorium raffled off different prizes to the lucky audience, including a Chipotle gift basket, a Starbucks gift basket, and a set of books written and donated by Kristi Yamaguchi. Before the show had even begun, the seats and raffle boxes were packed, the line outside the door stretched into the C-wing, and a troupe of photographers, videographers, and aspiring paparazzi peppered the back of the stage with flashing lights.

Ms. Yamaguchi started off the fashion show with her own, highly anticipated walk down the modeling runway, to which the audience responded with a tumult of applause and flash photography. After giving a short thank-you speech on behalf of her charity foundation, she returned to her seat in the audience as the rest of the fashion show unfolded. Between modeling sessions by both formally and casually attired students, performances from dancers, poets, musicians and well-seasoned musical groups, like The Ritards and The Syncopasians, were also presented. The audience cheered over the beatboxing duo of Ryan Yung and Ashwin Shailesh, swooned to the voices of Nathan Suh and Ciara Lunger, and burst into laughter to the comical antics of “The Yung SyncoRitards,” a medley of different Leadership II members lead by Mr. Breazele, who delivered a surprise musical reading of LMFAO’s “La La La”.

After ending the night with a spectacular duo performance from singer Priya Vijaykumar and piano extraordinaire Alvin Zhou, the Leadership II staff took to the stage with Mr. Breazele to thank the audience and acknowledge the incredible amount of work that the L2 staff put in to make this fashion show a success. In words from Kristi Yamaguchi on her Always Dream Foundation website, “Through my Always Dream Foundation, I simply hope to help children fulfill their dreams.” In one exciting night, the Leadership II staff was able to support a charitable foundation and provide a memorable experience for all of MSJ.