Teacher Kevin Evans was one of the Blues Brothers, along with John Deal in the Southeast Middle School Idol competition. Photo by Wayne Hinshaw, Salisbury Post

By Holly Fesperman Lee

Salisbury Post

It isn't often that students get a chance to laugh at their teachers, but Southeast Middle School students did last week.

The school hosted a "Southeast Idol" competition Thursday to give students a break from the stress of preparing for upcoming end-of-grade testing.

Teachers dressed up as big-name performers and stood in the middle of the gym floor to be judged by Simon, Paula, Randy and guest judge Michael Jackson.

Assistant Principal Kim Etters acted as the show's producer telling students that judges had been walking Southeast's halls for the past few weeks looking for talent and "believe it or not they found some."

Eighth-grade students Amanda Misenheimer and Sarah Britton strain to see who the next contestant might be at the Southeast Middle School program. Photo by Wayne Hinshaw, Salisbury Post

Teacher Jill DeBord was the first to take the stage as country star Lee Ann Womack.

She danced and used sign language to illustrate "I hope you dance" a Womack song that was playing in the background.

Other teachers and administrators were carrying around signs that instructed students to cheer and laugh at specific times.

After DeBoard's performance she stood before the judges.

"It was beautiful. It was graceful, I loved it," said Paula, played by sixth-grade teacher Angela London.

Like many true "American Idol" contestants, DeBord got the usual criticism from Simon Cowell — really her husband, Devin DeBord, band director at SouthEast.

Teachers Kay Brown, Sidney Allen and Kristie Carrol sang with Antonio Eberhardt as Jamie Foxx and the Dreamgirls.

Randy Jackson, played by seventh-grade math teacher Ben Davis, gave the group good reviews, saying, "Overall it was a pretty good performance."

Kevin Evans and John Deal earned the best comments from judges for their Blues Brothers performance.

At left, Monica Otten as Michael Jackson, teamed with Ben Davis, Angela London, and Devin DeBord to serve as judges during the 'Southeast Idol' competition. All are teachers at Southeast Middle School. Photo by Wayne Hinshaw, Salisbury Post.

The two earned some of Randy's signature comments, including, "Yo, yo dawg ... that was hot, yo."

Michael Jackson, played by chorus teacher Monica Otten, said in a very breathy voice, "It was so much fun. They have energy. They have spirit."

Otten looked the part, as well. She was wearing a dark wig with hat and large sunglasses, loafers and white socks along with one white glove. She also put on a surgical mask after her big appearance.

At the beginning of the show, Otten gave a Jackson style performance complete with moon walk to his song "Beat it."

During the show, teachers and administrators put on a series of "commercials" about end-of-grade testing (EOGs).

Teachers ran onto the floor carrying chairs and student desks. Teachers acted as students and sat in the desks along with one teacher dressed as a cave woman.

Several "students" asked the teacher what to do if their pencil broke during the EOGs, if they ran out of time, or if they didn't mark the bubble sheets correctly.

The teacher gave encouragement and told her students everything would be all right, reminding them, "You've been practicing."

When the teacher got to the cave woman, she said she had everything down and didn't need any help.

The teacher turned to the other students and said "See, taking the EOGs is so easy even a cave woman can do it!"

Students laughed and cheered at the sight of their teachers copying the popular Geico insurance commercial.

Pop music performers Gwen Stefani and Akon, played by Gwynne Wilson and Russell Mutz, were the last to entertain students.

Simon thought the performance was "absolutely awful" and Paula said she'd have to agree. Michael Jackson gave better reviews.

After the show, the show's host Ryan Seacrest — really Jamie Durant, school principal — announced that students could vote for who they wanted to win Southeast Idol all next week. The votes would cost 25 cents each.

He said the school's resource officer, Rowan County Sheriff's Deputy Scott Flowers, would be leaving soon to live in Africa for two years and work with an AIDS clinic.

Administrators played a slide show to try and teach students about the conditions in parts of Africa.

Durant said the money from the vote would go to help Flowers finance his trip. He encouraged all students to contribute at least a dollar.

The school's goal is at least $1,000, Durant said.

Flowers was obviously touched by the school's efforts.

"I had no idea they were going to be raising money. This was a total surprise," he said.

Contact Holly Lee at 704-797-7683 or hlee@salisburypost.com.