A musical outburst

“Music is an outburst of the soul,” English composer Frederick Delius once said.

If that’s the case, El Dorado Middle School’s stage will be filled with soul Saturday evening when the ARC of Butler County’s Circle of Friends presents a variety show entitled Outburst.

Emceed by Kansas Senator and Wichita native Donald Betts, Outburst will feature a host of talent, including special education students from Butler County. The students will sing songs from “High School Musical” and “Hannah Montana,” as well as tell jokes, share a Top Ten list of reasons “How You Know You Have Had a Bad Day” and strut the stage during a fashion show.

ARC of Butler coordinator Dave Matthews said Circle of Friends matches special education students with other regular education students to create friendships and help establish a mutual understanding of each others’ differences. Some of the groups have weekly or monthly activities like bowling, skating or going to see movies.

The program began at El Dorado High School last year, but began in Sedgwick County with a former special education teacher named Deb Wall. Wall approached the ARC of Butler board and wanted to spread Circle of Friends into local schools.

Kerri Loucks said the Circle of Friends in Sedgwick County has staged a “very successful” variety show for the last two years called Building the Circle.

“It’s a neat opportunity for special education kids in Butler county to have the chance to participate with their Circle of Friends,” Loucks said.

The program is designed to “make people aware of the talent and abilities of kids with special needs,” Matthews said.

“It’s tremendous,” he said. “It shows that everybody has differences but that we should accept each other and learn how to get along.”

Because Butler County’s Circle of Friends is still getting its bearings right now, ARC tapped other local talent to flesh out the Outburst program. On hand to entertain will be Dana Shanks and Jennifer Hinz, daughters of Dick and Denice Morris of El Dorado, owners of Kirby Morris Funeral Home.

“Dana and Jennifer are great singers and their cousin, Sarah Slayton, daughter of Harold and Linda Harmon of Walter’s Flowers, will be signing for their songs,” said Matthews. “I picked people I thought would be entertaining and that people in El Dorado would know.”

The first half of the show will feature Circle of Friends students and the Butler Community College Headliners vocal group. 

“We had some students that had worked with this program at Maize High School,” said Headliners director Valerie Mack. “So Val Wall called back in October and I just thought it was a great thing for our students to be able to mentor, perform with and learn from the Circle of Friends kids.”

The second half of the show will include the Corry Academy of Irish Dancing, which Matthews discovered at a Christmas program last year. El Dorado High School’s Encore show choir will also perform.

Matthews’ 15-year-old son Ian was invited by ARC’s past president to play Irish Drum with his mother Kim playing her hammered dulcimer. Ian has Downs Syndrome.

The Pride Players, three special needs adults from the ARC of Sedgwick will close the program, showing how each person is different and the importance of accepting and including each other. Their names are Donald Chandler, Jill Hershey and Corky Siebert. 

The money raised by Outburst will benefit the ARC of Butler and help provide programs like Special Olympics and Circle of Friends.

“I think it’s not only going to bring money, but bring awareness of our activities,” Matthews said.

The concert begins at 7 p.m. on Saturday at El Dorado Middle School. Tickets are $10 per person or $30 for a family up to five people. Call Kerri Loucks at 321-3179 to reserve tickets or visit Walter’s Flowers and Seven K Company.