Something exciting happened on the night of the Inaugural Linda Mae Mahon Lema Foundation Dinner on October 1. Two groups of students of the Sheldon High School Visual and Performing Arts program met for the first time and instantly connected.
One group was alumni of the VAPA program, who artfully and expertly performed a radio play reading at the dinner, which was the highlight of the evening. The other group was current VAPA students who were there to help out with the activities of the event.
After the play reading, the two groups went to a quiet location at the venue, where the alumni conducted an impromptu mentoring session with the students. The alumni shared their views on how the students could make the most of the VAPA program and how they could prepare for continuing to craft their art after graduation from Sheldon High School. The students asked the alumni many questions and both sides engaged in an open and rewarding conversation. This unplanned, unscripted occurrence was precisely the kind of synergy the Linda Mae Mahon Lema Foundation hopes to ignite throughout the greater Elk Grove community.