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Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda surprise visits Panorama High School
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Aug 18, 2017
Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda surprise visits Panorama High School
The Hamilton star visited the predominantly Latino school with the message that hard work pays off.
Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda speaks to the students at Panorama High School during a surprise visit.
Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda speaks to the students at Panorama High School during a surprise visit.
(
Nury Martinez
)

The Hamilton star visited the predominantly Latino school with the message that hard work pays off.

A high school in the San Fernando Valley had a surprise visitor Thursday. The creator and star of the Broadway blockbuster musical, Hamilton, stopped by Panorama High School in Panorama City to give a talk to some very lucky students. 

"We didn't tell them," said Panorama High School assistant principal, Michele Germic. "They started to get an idea when we had so many news crews. We did have a poster that one of our art teachers made of the outline of Hamilton so they were like, 'Could it be?' It was a great exciting moment when he came out on stage."

Manuel spoke to the school's 1,000 students in a mix of English and Spanish, which went over big, considering the student population.

"We are about 95% Hispanic Latino population. We also have a very large population of new-to-the country students, and it really resonated with them, his message with regard to immigrants and welcoming them to the U.S. and being a part of our history," Germic said.

Miranda emphasized the message of having to work to get what you want and not letting barriers get in the way, Germic said. "Pushing past those, really spoke to these students. Life isn't going to be easy, but you can get where you want to be with hard work."