By KALEY LYON
Hays Daily News
Hundreds of high school students poured into the auditorium, clapping and cheering wildly in anticipation.
When the pop star took the stage, the room exploded with more applause and chanting. The energetic performer didn't disappoint his fans, but this wasn't your typical rock show.
"Cómo estðn?" Justo Lamas asked the crowd, taking the stage.
The response was unanimous -- "bien!" the crowd shouted.
Friday morning, Lamas, who travels the United States as a singer and motivational speaker, performed at 12th Street Auditorium for high school students taking Spanish classes in 11 northwest Kansas school districts.
"I am so happy," Lamas said. "I have a passion for kids."
This was his second time in Hays; his first local performance was in 2002. The stop was one of more than 60 on his "Sueños," or "Dreams," tour. The concerts, Lamas explained, have two important parts.
The first is to promote the importance of being bilingual, and the second is to provide them with a positive message, he said.
While the teenagers sang and waved their cell phones to the lyrics of "Techno Cumbia" and "Amor Real," they listened quietly as Lamas shared about his troubled childhood and encouraged students to pursue their dreams.
His mother was schizophrenic and died of cancer when he was 16 years old. He struggled academically and battled low self-esteem and a speech impediment during childhood. During all these obstacles, however, he clung to his lifelong dream of being a singer, he said.
"I dreamed of great audiences yelling my name, 'Justo, Justo.' When I was dreaming, I never thought of my problems," Lamas said in Spanish, with Lora Gallegos-Haynes translating. "My dreams overpowered all of my difficulties."
Lamas also encouraged students to pursue their own dreams.
"You're not here by accident, but to complete a purpose. And your purpose has to do with your dreams," he said. "If I could do it, so can you. Fight for your dreams. Have big dreams. Be a leader."
Gallegos-Haynes, Spanish instructor at HHS, organized the event and invited other area schools to participate.
"We try to get some kind of activity in Hays or a field trip we can go to at least once a year," Gallegos-Haynes said. "We don't have much of the cultural kind of things we can take the kids to see and hear."
Students had spent months preparing for the concert. Many learned the lyrics in class, and others had made signs or T-shirts. Hays High students in upper-level Spanish courses even had the opportunity to take the stage as singers and dancers.
During the song "Cuando salà de Cuba," more than 20 students, wearing matching T-shirts, jumped on stage with Lamas to dance in the background.
Krissy Legleiter, a level four Spanish student and a senior at HHS, said learning the music was a good way to help remember her Spanish vocabulary.
"It was good for memory," said Legleiter, a dancer who sported a homemade "Justo Mania" T-shirt. "It's a fun way to learn Spanish."
Reporter Kaley Lyon can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 138, or by e-mail at klyon@dailynews.net.