Ben Vereen:cancels scheduled appearance at the Seabury Center. Contributed photoActor Ben Vereen, who was scheduled to headline a Broadway tribute to American composer Stephen Schwartz on Sunday at Westport’s Seabury Center, has had to cancel his appearance, organizers said today.

However, the show will go on, planners say, and Vereen has donated several items to be auctioned off during intermission, one of them being house seats to the Broadway show “Wicked,” followed by dinner with him.

Vereen’s cancellation in Westport is the second change for the event. It had originally been scheduled at the Bedford Middle School.

Titled, “Simple Joys,” the two Seabury performances are being sponsored by the Westport-based Center Stage Theatre Company, and will include five Broadway performers singing pieces from productions that include “Wicked,” “Pippin,” “Godspell,” and “Children of Eden.” The show is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 18, from 8 to 9:30 p.m. and from 10 to 11:30 p.m.

Schwartz will be among the guests, according to an announcement.

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The next school year isn’t for another nine months, but the calendar is in place.

The Westport Board of Education approved the 2006-07 school calendar during its meeting Monday night.

Students will again start school after Labor Day with classes starting on Sept. 5. School will end on June 22.

Students will also again have school on Columbus Day. Students had school on Columbus Day—a non-required holiday—for the first time last October.

Monica Keena, who played Abby on television’s “Dawson’s Creek,” is scheduled to hold a workshop on auditioning techniques at Westport’s Music Theatre of Connecticut at Colonial Green on Monday, Dec. 12, at 7:30 p.m.

According to Patricia Blaufuss, theater spokeswoman, the event is designed for children and teenagers age 12 through 18. Each is requested to prepare a 30- to 60-minute monologue.

Blaufuss added that Keena plans to coach each participant on auditioning practices and to answer any questions about entering the film and television business.

The Music Theatre of Connecticut is located at 246 Post Road East at Colonial Green. For further information call 454-3883.

Coleytown Middle School sixth graders Sam Shaffer and Riley Macdonald recently presented a $500 check to Janet Filling, executive director of the Westport-based Mid-Fairfield County Chapter of the American Red Cross, to supplement relief efforts for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The 11 year olds, who are members of Coleytown’s Service Learning Club, raised the money by running a junior golf tournament at Longshore Club Park this fall. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo.

From Westport to Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe students are learning with donated, old Westport school system books. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo.

Old Westport school textbooks are now opening doors of learning for an impoverished Zimbabwe village due to the efforts of Westport individuals and organizations, and grateful tribal elders are now asking for more books.  The project, “Books for Zim,” grew out of a visit by local residents Andrew and Relly Coleman to Mapakomhere, a Lemba village in the Great Zimbabwe area. While there, the Colemans said they saw a school in desperate need of help. Many of the classes are held under trees or in incomplete classrooms, they said. Books, too, were scarce, they continued.  When they are available at all, the Colemans said, three or more students share one textbook, often in fragile condition.  “We were very impressed by how happy the students were to be at school and how keen and eager to learn they were,” said Relly Coleman, “as well as how proud the headmaster and the tribe’s elders were of the students’ achievements on national tests.”

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Staples Building Committee representatives made their plea for an additional $2 million in order to complete the Staples High School expansion and renovation Monday night.

Committee representatives explained the additional funding—the second request for more money for the project—is needed because there were major problems uncovered once construction crews began renovating the existing building.

The school board took no vote at its meeting, but is scheduled to do so at its next session Dec. 12.

The project’s plan includes the construction of a new academic wing—which will be completed for use in February—and the renovation and expansion of some current areas of the building, including the cafeteria, auditorium and media center.

Lukus Van Zanten spends time building boats at Staples.Contributed PhotoAt Staples High School, students with advanced knowledge of a subject often help those who are just learning. Stapleites often gather in the library, cafeteria or classroom to tutor each other in subjects like physics, writing, or Spanish.

So while it was not uncommon for Lukas Van Zanten to share his woodworking talents in the boat-building course last year, one aspect was unusual: Lukas was only a freshman. His classmates were juniors and seniors.

They were happy for his help. From the boat-building room to the auditorium, where he builds sets for Staples Players productions, no one knows more about construction than Lukas Van Zanten.

“It comes easily to me,” the King’s Highway Elementary and Bedford Middle School graduate said modestly. “I like taking a bunch of wood, and creating something. It’s relaxing and satisfying. Shaping something into a piece of art gives me a good feeling.”

The Staples High School Italian Club has scheduled a showing of the 2002 Italian language film “Pinocchio” in the McManus Meeting Room of the Westport Public Library on Thursday, Dec. 8 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

Titled, “Pinocchio e Panettone,” the event will also feature discussions by Italian Club members and a sampling of panettone, a traditional Italian sweet bread, said Enia Noonan, a Staples Italian teacher.

The 2002 film with English subtitles stars Roberto Benigni, who also directed it.  Rated G, the film was one of the most expensive Italian movies ever made. The event is open to the public.