On The Town:

While Aerosmith, The Troggs and Lipps Inc. were not in the house, Friday night saw McKinley Elementary School rocked to the rafters with some of those classic bands’ biggest hits. Partnering with The Burbank Music Academy, students, teachers, staff members and parents from McKinley jammed with songs like “Walk This Way,” “Wild Thing” and “Funky Town” to raise funds for the school’s art programs.

“Our goal is to raise money for the McKinley Arts Project — our PTA-run arts program,” said the school’s PTA President Suzanne Weerts. “We bring visiting artists into the classrooms, and this coming year we will be giving our fifth-graders the chance to perform onstage through an in-school theater program that will run for 10 weeks.”

Working in cooperation with The Burbank Music Academy founder Don DeSimone to stage Friday’s concert, Weerts also brought her bass guitar and joined event Chairwoman Roxana Cousens-Acedo, Susie Shearer, and Savo and Aleksia Lukic to perform as Fahrenheit 341.

While students, family members and supporters, including school board member Ted Bunch, enjoyed the evening’s show, the event also gave them the opportunity to peruse the artistic entries of McKinley students who are participating in the Reflections program, a nationwide PTA contest that gives kids the chance to create works of art in various disciplines.

Among those proudly showing off their entries was 5-year-old Ryan Askins, who was with his mother, Michelle. Along with the art show and entertainment, supporters also had the chance to enjoy a picnic dinner provided by Tony’s Deli and an opportunity drawing, while the McKinley Booster Club offered a wide array of Panther gear.

Among those who performed and participated were Julian Jensen; Nastazia Lukic; Catalina Sutter; Jack and Maddie Weerts; Sophie Calderon; Mihailo Lukic; Chad Richardson; Alyssa Urteaga; Amber Lamb; Monty Smith; Malina Seenarini; Nicholas, Alexander and Christopher Acedo; Ruby Smith; Anthony Casteneda; Kaitlin and Nathan Shearer, and Sophie and Ash Hawkins.

Others who made the evening a success with their performance and support were Raymond Shideler; Luke and Noah DeSimone; Sebby Santoro; Taylor Austin; Blake Scott; Taylor MacDonald; Matthew Hiett; Josh Wright; Ryan Veras; Maria Paraszky; Allie Martin and Swampy Hawkins and his wife, Dyann.

The evening’s grand finale presented Panther Pride, a band that consisted of McKinley staff members Debbie Gregoire and Juan Avila, Principal Bobbie Kavanaugh, student teacher Katie Miller, and second- grade teacher Angie D’Mello, who is a finalist for California Teacher of the Year.

 DAVID LAURELL can be contacted at dlaurell@aol.com or (818) 563-1007.