A packed house celebrates Niwot Elementary's "Niwot Kids Got Talent"

Niwot Elementary 5th Grade Student Reporters (Kestrel Glick, Graham Ottem, and Sienna Shear)

The Niwot High School auditorium hosted the Niwot Elementary School's talent show on Feb. 2 to a sold-out, enthusiastic crowd. The talent show showcased the brave, courageous participants ranging from kindergarten to fifth grade.

The talent show was a fun and inclusive experience for all, including a performance done by kindergartener Miles Carland, dancing to "Pretty Bird" in a fantastic parakeet costume. Audience members seemed to agree that the cutest performance was kindergartner Ella Bradley who sang "The Greatest Show" from "The Greatest Showman." Afterward, she reported, "I was nervous, but then I could see my dad holding his phone in the audience and I felt happy the whole time."

The most audience-engaging performance was fifth-grader Cooper Edwards, singing and playing the guitar to "Riptide," inspiring the students in the audience to sing along and dance in the aisles. "It was fun to be up there and I hope the audience enjoyed my act," Edwards said.

Creating an act helped teach students to be flexible and gave them experience on how to iterate. "I'm really excited to perform, and get a few laughs from the audience," said Kaia Herchert during dress rehearsal. She performed the chicken dance with fellow third-graders Ellar and Reese Nielsen. Ellar and Reese explained, "A few days before the final show, we changed a lot of the act and it was hard to relearn that, but after a lot of practice we got it right."

Fourth-grader Caroline Bixler, who sang "Love Story" by Taylor Swift while accompanied by her father on guitar, confessed to being "excited, but nervous at the same time."

The combination of nerves and excitement was a common theme, as second-grader Claire Bergman said, "I am really scared for the talent show, but I love my act."

Kindergartener Hugo Silberman said, "I'm scared and happy." Hugo danced in an adorable fox costume to "What Does The Fox Say?" with two other classmates.

The showstopper of the night was the NES staff performance, a tradition in this community for many years. This year, the theme was a "Masked Performer" act showcasing all the staff with hilarious fake celebrity judges and four incredible mini-performances including a DJ, a singer, an ensemble dance number, and a solo dance number by the Niwot Cougar mascot (Principal Nancy Pitz).

The fifth-graders at Niwot Elementary provided the finale to the evening with a choreographed dance to Coldplay's "Sky Full of Stars," continuing a tradition that gets the audience on its feet. This year was no exception, as the audience danced and clapped along with the students. Local fifth-grader Jane Bolls said, "I am excited to have the chance to emcee and perform in such an interesting series of acts." Bolls and three other fifth-grade students were picked by their peers to emcee the talent show.

The talent show was fun for the students and audience and a great opportunity to showcase the talent of many at Niwot Elementary.