At 8:15 am Tuesday, July 8, 2014, San Diego Guild of Puppetry lead artist, Felix Diaz’s whistle will blow, the drum group from Monroe Clark Middle School will set the beat, and rank upon rank of 6th graders will set out on a spirited march to their feeder elementary, Rosa Parks, in the 9th annual, “Welcome to Middle School” parade.
Students will parade with masks, giant puppets and banners that they have created, and as the middle schoolers approach the elementary playground, they will be joined by Rosa Parks’ graduating 5th graders, bearing the masks that they created. After parading before the entire school population, the procession, now close to 600 students strong, will march together back to Monroe Clark, marking the passage to middle school, in a larger than life celebration.
Funding for the original parade in 2006 came from an Arts and Culture Community Impact grant from The San Diego Foundation, with additional and continuing funding every year from A-I-S grants from the California Arts Council, a state agency, the NEA, a federal agency, the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, and the Dr. Seuss Foundation. This support has kept the parade going and growing into a magical, annual event that celebrates student transition to middle school.
Mentoring the process, the San Diego Guild of Puppetry, is hard at work to make giant puppet parade pageantry an important element in the San Diego community at large. Other public, multi-community giant puppet parades have included those at Theatre of the World Festivals at SDSU, ocean and dragon themed parades at the Museum of Art, a number of Dia de los Muertos Celebrations, and parades along downtown San Diego’s waterfront. Lynne Jennings, Guild Executive Director, explains: “Giant puppetry, by its very size, inspires awe. It builds stronger communities, as individuals become part of a committed team effort. It engenders the realization that working together, people can effect powerful and positive change. It invites participants and spectators of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds to join hands in celebration!”
Everyone is invited to come and cheer. The parade route will start at the Monroe Clark Middle School field, go east on Myrtle and north on 45th to Rosa Parks, circle the elementary school playground and then retrace the route back to the middle school.