SFCC students shine in PACE Has Got Talent showcase

On a recent afternoon in the Lodge at Spokane Falls Community College, Keala Settle’s “This Is Me,” from the movie “The Greatest Showman,” begins to play.

“I am not a stranger to the dark/Hide away, they say/‘Cause we don’t want your broken parts/I’ve learned to be ashamed of all my scars/Run away, they say/No one’ll love you as you are,” she sings.

At the same time, Lawrence Kimura begins to dance.

After about a minute, students in the People Accessing Careers and Education program at SFCC join him, dancing and singing along to the “Oh-oh-oh-ohs.”

This performance is the finale piece in this year’s PACE Has Got Talent showcase, the culmination of the class of the same name, which uses the arts to teach students with intellectual/developmental and/or psychiatric disabilities social and employment skills like teamwork and stress and time management.

The piece was originally supposed to be a solo for Kimura, but he and PACE instructors Judy Mandeville and Eric Moede agreed it would be better if the students joined him onstage.

“I’m doubting myself and weak in the beginning,” Kimura said, explaining the dance. “I get confidence from their energy. That was how it was when I first met them. I was down, and they lifted me up.”

After another run through, the group breaks off on their own or with small groups to rehearse individual pieces.

Students Tyler and Megan, joined by four other students, are performing “Summer Nights” from “Grease.” Christian is reciting a speech called “Vintage Toys, Rare Hearts.”

John is singing “I’d Be Happy to Be Bullwinkle,” Micaela is dancing to “I’ve Got No Strings” and Heather is singing and dancing to “Let It Go.”

Other students are singing “I Want It That Way” by the Backstreet Boys, Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er Boi” and “Wouldn’t Change a Thing” by Demi Lovato and Joe Jonas, and another is performing a magic act.

The 35 students in the class will perform Friday at Life Center Church. Art created by PACE students will also be on display during the show.

“I don’t know of another course like this, where it serves folks with disabilities after the high school mandate utilizing the arts in such a rigorous and comprehensive way,” Mandeville said. “We’re really proud of this, not only the course but especially the students.”

PACE Services is a two-part program, with an instructional component and employment component.

The instructional component includes dozens of classes, everything from creative writing and healthy living to money smarts and public speaking.

“All the classes are designed to get every student as prepared as they can possibly be to go out and find employment, which is the other half of PACE Services,” Moede said. “We call them job coaches and program coordinators but they’re the ones who will work one on one with the students and take them out and try to find them employment.”

PACE Has Got Talent came to be four years ago after a small talent show Mandeville held with students in her Life Skills Through the Arts class.

Mandeville and Moede spend the first month or so of the course, which is only held during the spring quarter, getting to know the students, observing how they communicate with each other and setting up class expectations.

From there, they help the students develop the talents they’ll share during the showcase.

Throughout the quarter, Mandeville and Moede will invite local artists, actors, musicians and dancers to class for guest lectures.

When planning the PACE Has Got Talent showcase, the pair will also try to find community artists, like Kimura, who might be able to accompany the students onstage.

“It goes back to that idea of we’re all in this together and we’re a community,” Moede said. “We want to make sure that the students and all the local artists feel like we’re creating this thing together.”

The theme of this year’s showcase is “A Penny for Your Thoughts,” which Mandeville and Moede chose to show the students that they and their thoughts matter.

“Oftentimes their thoughts or their ability to contribute are overlooked or discarded,” Mandeville said.

Mandeville and Moede start each class by having the students repeat a mantra that affirms their worth, usually something along the lines of “I’m here. I’m valuable. I’m worth fighting for. I’m worth chasing my dreams.”

“Those small things really add up in terms of their overall confidence and hopefully how they view themselves,” Moede said. “Judy and I really want to stress how much they do matter and how much we value them.”

Mandeville and Moede have worked to make PACE Services a welcoming place where students can develop confidence in themselves and realize all they can accomplish, in and out of the classroom.

“It’s a fusion daily of value and worth and building these students up because so many of them have been ripped apart, ripped to shreds for so long,” Mandeville said. “It’s a beautiful place of growth and hope.”