Teen honored by Blue Men

A series of distinctive tones brings a spaceship to Earth in the science fiction movie classic "Close Encounters of the Third Kind."

It was a sound that 17-year-old Caitlin Norton emulated by plucking a homemade harp at Shadow Ridge High School on Wednesday.

No mother ship descended over the school at the northern end of Decatur Boulevard, but three blue guys did march into class to hand Caitlin a bright orange Jello-like cube.

It was her award for winning the Blue Man Group -- Create a Found Instrument contest.

Staying in character, the earless blue men raised their arms in salute. They never spoke a word or changed their blank facial expressions. Their attempts to socialize, such as taking Polaroid snapshots of students, provoked nervous laughter.

"The social awkwardness is the entertainment," teacher David Havenstein said.

Caitlin was blushing in red when she realized early on that she would be the object of the blue trio's attention.

"I was like, 'Oh dear, I am the only one (in the class to have applied),' " she said.

Organized by the Clark County School District's Community Partnership office, the second Create a Found Instrument is supposed to inspire creativity, but Caitlin was a surprise winner because she is not a band student or a school-trained musician. She submitted the project for Havenstein's sociology class.

Her class had studied the cultural significance of musical instruments. More primitive cultures, for instance, are likely to use percussion instruments such as drums, Havenstein said.

Because Blue Man Group likes to make musical instruments out of common materials such as polyvinyl chloride or PVC pipe, Caitlin improvised with a household broom as well as objects found in the aisles of Home Depot.

She created a harp-like instrument with guitar strings stretched over a wooden frame.

The strings are surrounded by PVC pipe on the bottom half of the frame. They're attached at the top to a broom, which can be twisted to loosen or tighten pressure on the strings and create different tones.

Because of the broom, Caitlin calls the instrument her "witch guitar."

Kathleen Norton said her husband, Bruce Norton, a cable installer, helped their daughter put it together, but it was her design and her idea to attach the broom.

"We were keen on letting her figure it out," Kathleen Norton said.

Because of her award-winning entry, Caitlin will get a $1,000 scholarship. She is interested in attending Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff to study ancient civilization and archaeology.

Havenstein, her teacher, will get $5,000 for education materials.

Havenstein said the money will be handy because so much sociological material is copyrighted and expensive to buy.

The teacher and class will also get free tickets to the Blue Man Group's nightly show at The Venetian. The Nortons, who moved to Las Vegas in 2004, have never seen the show, but they already have their souvenir.

The orange Jello-like cube is "going in the refrigerator," said Kathleen Norton.

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug @reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.