All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Sorted by date Results 51 - 79 of 79
Even though she is only a freshman, Arts Student of the Week Prugh Dunfee has already chalked up an impressive list of accomplishments in her first year at Niwot High School. She is a member of the Chamber Singers and the District Honor Choir, she had a role in the Niwot High School production of "Beauty and the Beast," and she is a valued student in the NHS Music Theater Class. "She is in Chamber Singers as a freshman," said Dunfee's drama teacher Laura Walters, "and has auditioned into our...
Jasper Allison has been listening to music and playing drums his entire life. "Music has always been a necessity for me," Allison said. "I don't think of it as an interest, but rather a part of my personality and who I am, and just kind of me." The 16-year-old musician is a junior at Niwot High School. His music teacher, Wade Hendricks, nominated him for Arts Student of the Week. Allison has taken advantage of the many music opportunities the high school has to offer. He has been in the...
A few weeks before opening night, students from Erie Middle School came to see a special performance of Niwot High School's "Beauty and the Beast." "All the kids absolutely loved it!" said NHS freshman and actress Micah McGhee. "Afterwards, we had some time for questions. When the microphone was handed to one of the middle schoolers, they said something along the lines of, 'Cheese grater, whoever you are, we love you!'" McGhee, who performed the part, added, "I will honestly never forget that....
As a technical theater student at Niwot High School, Claire Plath has had the opportunity to learn about all aspects of theater production. From set design and construction to lighting and sound, she has gained a wide range of knowledge and skills that she can apply to any situation. She has enjoyed being part of the Niwot High productions, including plays, musicals, and concerts. "It has been a great experience to learn how to work together as a team to create a successful performance," Plath...
When she was five years old, Sarah Depestele loved to watch her father sketch cars. "That's when I started drawing seriously," Depestele said. "And that's because my dad loved drawing cars. He drew a lot of Porches and Bugattis. So, I drew. They didn't look like anything, but...they looked kind of like cars." That early interest has endured as part of Depestele's studies at Niwot High School, where she has taken both Beginning and Intermediate Drawing. Beth Collier, who teaches art at NHS,...
Arts Student of the Week Kennah Brackett first became passionate about music in middle school when she started taking music courses and composing. "Music gives me a warm, comforting feeling that nothing else can," Brackett said. "I also really appreciate the time and effort that someone has to put in to become good. I think it is really fun to work hard towards something so rewarding." "I have been singing for as long as I can remember," Brackett said, "mainly singing along to Disney songs in...
As a young girl, Anastasia Williams loved the sound of the flute. "I can't remember a time when it wasn't my favorite instrument," Williams said. "When I was in third grade, I started taking flute lessons--my arms were finally long enough to be able to play it properly--and I have been playing ever since." Williams loves music, she said, "because it is emotion and math blended together into a harmonious whole. I enjoy making music because I will never be able to do it perfectly, because there...
"Twins," The philosopher Hippocrates once conjectured, "are like one another for the following reasons. First, the places are alike in which they grow; then they were secreted together; then they grow by the same nourishment, and at birth they reach together the light of day." Arts Student of the Week, Niwot High School freshman Gwen Ashack, might agree with Hippocrates, but only up to a point. "I have one brother," Ashack said. "I'm a twin. He doesn't enjoy art as much as I do, but we both...
Mimi Archibold, this week's Arts Student of the Week, was motivated to become an actress by watching her sisters, and she had many to choose from. Archibold has eight older siblings. "When I was really young," Archibold said, "I watched two of my older siblings perform in plays with a small theatre company and later I watched my sister, Mary, star in half the plays she did at Niwot. I'd say she's probably been my biggest motivator when it came to acting." Every time she listens to a new musical...
Although she has experimented with many artistic mediums, including painting, drawing with graphite and pen and ink, ceramics, and multimedia sculptures, Niwot High School senior Hannah Geiling most enjoys working with Prismacolor pencils. "I enjoy the slow nature of the medium that calls for lots of layering and blending," Geiling said. "And overall, just really getting to play with color theory." Geiling takes influence from artists in pop culture, especially musical artists such as Melanie...
"Ever since I was in elementary school," Najla Onofre Valles admits, "I've been wanting to use a guitar and learn how to play it. I just thought it would be something really fun to do." Valles, who was selected by NHS' Orchestra Director Keynes Chen as Arts Student of the Week, developed an interest in mariachi while she was still a student at Sunset Middle School. When the school started a mariachi class, Valles immediately signed up. "I thought it would be cool to be in a mariachi class," she...
Greta Stauch has a passion for choral music. The Niwot High School sophomore describes the music as "a group of people attempting to blend their voices into one sound with as much beauty as possible." Succeeding in choir, she said, "requires a deep understanding of vocal technique as well as music as a whole. Sight reading and music theory skills play a large part in contributing to a strong choral group." Laura Walters, the Choral Music Director at Niwot High School, selected Stauch as the...
"There is a kind of closeness in the theater," the musical composer John Kander once said. "The rehearsal pianist, the head carpenter, the stage manager, the star of the show-all are family." Niwot High School student Aiden Sagner agrees with this sentiment completely. "I would describe theater as a really tight-knit community," Sagner acknowledged while describing his experience in theater at NHS. "No matter what show you are working on, everyone there is super close because everyone is...
During the first week of December, the Niwot High School Jazz Band played in an unusual venue. Instead of performing in the school auditorium, where such performances have been held in the past, the band played on the Learning Stairs, the central staircase at NHS sweeping up from the ground level. "It was really cool," said alto saxophonist Sebastian Aguirre, this week's Arts Student of the Week. "because there were a lot of people. In the auditorium you can't see people because of all the...
Arts Student of the Week Mya Wells has fond memories of the music that surrounded her during her childhood in California. "My mom was born in Mexico. In the morning she'd sing mariachi songs while she made me breakfast, forcing me to dance with her," Wells recalled. Those early experiences inspired her to become a musician. "It just came very naturally to me," she said. Later, when Wells attended Westview Middle School, she took up violin. "Everyone had to choose an instrument. So I said, 'I...
Although ReyLynn Killinger specializes in beautifully drafted, intricate graphite portraits, the Niwot High School senior gets especially excited when she talks about her work as a make-up artist. "I am completely self-taught," Killinger explained, "and it's important to me, because I feel like it's an extension of my art. Other people can see it. I walk around and it's on me. It's a part of me." She has also explored creating prom make-up and face paint art on a few people but, Killinger is...
For someone who has always been interested in theater, Paige Ioerger knew at an early age that acting was not her calling. "I did a little of it when I was young," Ioerger said, "but I've stepped away from that. I have a little bit of stage fright, so I can't really do the onstage thing. But I did a little bit when I was younger." In elementary school she had small roles, singing in the chorus of shows. "I did that for 'The Little Mermaid' when I was in first grade, and then I did the same...
If there is one art form Niwot High School senior Mark Crochiere would encourage people to try, it would be ceramics. "Just try out ceramics," Crochiere says. "It's not for everyone, but you can't find out until you try. It's an intimidating thing to start. But I would encourage people to try it out. You never know." It is a passion he enjoys sharing. According to his art teacher, Beth Collier, "Mark is a very inspiring Advanced Ceramics student. He is so hard working and creative." From a very...
Shefali Joshi has an earnest curiosity about the world which lights up her face when she talks about her studies and her plans for the future. This curiosity led the Niwot High School sophomore to take an introductory course in Python programming, switch her foreign language requirement from Spanish to French, and take classes in industrial design at The Innovation Center of St. Vrain Valley Schools. It was Joshi's enthusiasm for her studies that led Crystal Hinds, Art Educator at Niwot High Sch...
In seventh grade, Sophie Arnett-Simon traveled with her family to New York City for spring break. While they were there, they saw "Wicked" on Broadway. The moment the show started, Arnett-Simon knew that was what she wanted to do in life. For a few years she convinced herself this dream was impossible, but now she is fully engaged in musical theater at Niwot High School, studying advanced drama and preparing for her role as Tim in the NHS fall production of "Noises Off," a play by Michael Frayn....
Discipline is a trait Kaitlyn Duncan developed at an early age. Duncan, the Niwot High School Arts Student of the Week, is a section leader in the Niwot Band flute section. Growing up, she tried to take advantage of as many opportunities as she could to better herself, not only playing the flute, but also becoming a leader in general. As a result she practiced hard, taking flute lessons and working on her management skills. She has developed those skills as part of another of her interests,...
Keynes Chen, the Niwot High School Orchestra Director and the Assistant Director of Band, said his student, John Hu, "has shown dedication and strong leadership ever since he was a freshman at NHS." Hu is currently a junior and the principal violist in all three of the high school orchestras including Sinfonia, Conservatory, and the Symphony Orchestra. "He always knows his music well," Chen said, "and I can definitely count on him during rehearsals and performances." It is this dedication to...
When you listen to Paige Hahn talk about her daily schedule, it is easy to get the impression that this dynamic Niwot High School junior never sleeps. Her coursework in the high school International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IB) includes IB History of Europe, IB Math, IB English, IB Spanish and IB Biology, in addition to her contributions to technical theater. It was Jason Watkins, technical director for theater at NHS, who nominated Hahn for Arts Student of the Week. "Paige is the current...
"Every child is an artist," Pablo Picasso once said. "The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." In her four years in the art program at Niwot High School, Ruby Walker has matured as an artist and her work has improved immensely. "Ruby is a dedicated and creative IB Visual Arts student," NHS art teacher, Beth Collier, said. "She is in her senior year, and it has been my pleasure to have had Ruby for much of her time at NHS. She has been growing and stretching as an artist, and...
Niwot High School student Hannah Rudolph has an energetic optimism that drives her to succeed. She is an artist, a singer, and a cheerleader. She plays guitar and she played flute for three years in middle school. She is also the only student in the history of Niwot High School who has performed in all five choirs: Chamber Singers, Evenstar, Tenor/Bass choir, Treble choir and Sedalia. Laura Walters, the Choral Music Director at NHS, selected Rudolph as Art Student of the Week. "Hannah is a...
Niwot High School senior Jessi Lehman clearly remembers her experience as a trumpet player in middle school. "There were definitely a lot more boys in the trumpet section," Lehman said, "Pesky middle school boys. And being one of only two girls, I always had a feeling they didn't really think I should be there." But the stereotypical attitude regarding musical instruments and gender that once dominated the music scene did not have a negative effect on the senior's desire to pursue her interests....
Jude Dow-Hygelund graduated from Niwot High School this spring and has been accepted to CU Boulder to study piano performance. Wade Hendricks, Jude's teacher at the high school, spoke highly of his music student. "He is an amazing talented performer and composer/arranger," Hendricks said. Last year Jude relocated to Niwot from Eugene, Ore., and spent his last four months at the new school. "When you're moving your senior year of high school it's probably not going to be fun no matter what you...
When Eli Rose was in sixth grade, they remember watching their best friend learn to draw. "I thought it was so cool to be able to make something like that," Eli Rose said. "That's when I really started to draw and practice every day." Although they have only been at Niwot High School for one year, the artist Eli Rose (no last name used) has enjoyed the art classes and the opportunity those classes have offered them to experiment with different media, while still having enough freedom to express...
Mary Ellen Coates, a Niwot High School Senior, is inspired by music. Asked about how she got her start in choir, Coates said she began in elementary school. While she was a member of the NHS Marching Band and played flute in the Symphonic Band, she was talked into singing in the choir by her former teacher. Coates said, "I hadn't really considered choir because the school rules stipulated that students couldn't do both band and choir." But the choir director lobbied for Coates to participate in...
