Woodbury Students Hit The Stage For ‘Lake Idol’

There were no Jennifer Lopez or Steven Tyler sighting at on Tuesday, when 15 brave young students performed for their peers, parents and a panel of judges as part of "Lake Idol."

The fundraiser for the school’s Student Literary Council—which provides books for classrooms, literary outreach programs and other activities to promote reading—works much the same as American Idol. Students take the stage and a panel of judges comment on their performance and choose who moves on to the next round.

Lake Idol has been held at the Woodbury school since 2007, said Jan Buikema, literary coach at Lake Middle School.

“It kind of brings everybody together,” she said. “It lets you see kids through a different lens than you would walking through the hallways each day.”

Tuesday marked Day 1 of the competition, which will continue at 3 p.m. each Tuesday until the Jan. 31 finale (tickets cost $3). The winner receives $100 worth of gift cards for area establishments.

Lake Middle School switched it up one year and held "Lake’s Got Talent." “Just for something different,” Buikema said. That year also gave students who don't sing a chance to compete, but now they provide intermission acts or, as was the case Tuesday, tell jokes while the judges make their decisions.

About 30 students auditioned for Lake Idol. That number was winnowed to the 15 contestants who performed Tuesday.

Teachers Logan Carstensen, Brian Eberhardt, Ashley Martin and Abigail Adkins served as judges. The emcee was teacher Paul Krumrie.

• Elsie Hallstrom
• Brynn Carlson
• Brendan Finn
• Dominique Alsides and Emily Vanderhoff
• Lydia Borchert and Vashondre Banks
• Ali Grinde
• Winston Ware and Ni’Jha Montgomery
• Bridgette Sieffert
• Lindsay Grunewald
• Jackson Allen
• Halston Greenlay
• Laura Parker
• Tahni Ferris
• Runo Egi
• Collin Johnson
• Comedians: Erin Cheatham and Andrea Medillin