Public School Zero Music Program Director Jordan Smith has long been irked by the fact that nearby Richard E Rich Academy has placed so many classical music students on NPR’s popular radio show for young musicians, From The Top. Smith notes the lavish music facilities and enormous budgets that already pampered Rich students enjoy, and the advantage they have over Public School Zero students. Most PSZ students have service jobs after school, and few have the money for expensive summer programs and private teachers.
When long-time host of From The Top, Christopher O’Riley, was mysteriously fired, Public School Zero hoped to recruit him to run a rival show based on PSZ kids who perform for each other in the parking lot behind the supermarket on Saturday nights. The new show is called From The Bottom and it features dance and music competitions judged by supermarket patrons.
Although Christopher O’Riley does not host the new show, the supermarket chain, Sack Of Sugar, has pledged to sponsor the show on local radio if the kids will just clean up their !@#$%* soda cans and not leave their !@#$%* e-cigarettes on the ground. While Richard Rich is a feeder school for the top classical music programs in the country, Smith hopes that PSZ can be a feeder for pop music.
However, Richard E Rich Academy Music Director Duckworth Baritone heard about the new show and immediately arranged for his Richard E Rich Breakdance Trio, an internationally recognized group of young performers with an impressive resume of awards and prizes, to come and compete in the parking lot. The Breakdance Trio arrived at Sack of Sugar with their school Break Coach, Business Manager and Industry Mentor as well as an elaborate sound system. It was predicted that the private school dancers would win the weekly competition, but their electronics, which had to be plugged into a relay of 5 extension cords from the supermarket, blew a fuse and the trio was not able to perform acapella.
After the incident, Smith changed the rules of From The Bottom so only amateurs are allowed to compete. While Richard E Rich lawyers have opened a dispute on the definition of “amateur,” the most recent winner was a dropout from Public School Zero whom Jordan Smith had to admit had never attended a single music class.