In early May 2022, Nederland Middle-Senior High School (NMSHS) gathered its theater and music lovers together for three nights of award ceremonies. The ceremonies highlighted the achievements of the school’s theater and music departments and celebrated the students who have continued to allow them to thrive.

On May 9 and 10, Nederland hosted its music awards, celebrating the students who participated in the choir, band, and orchestra programs during the 2022-2023 school year. Students from each group had the potential to earn four awards: Most Dedicated, Hardest Worker, Most Improved, and Most Inspirational.

For the sixth grade band, Owen Kreutzian and Paul Garrigou won Most Dedicated, Leila Tarleton, Legend Teller, and Myla Yoh received Hardest Workers, River Williams received Most Improved, Dylan Karowe and Felix Miller received Most Inspirational, and Teddy Shaffer won the award for All Around Achievement.

For the middle school band, Mars Gervais and River Lemaster received Most Dedicated, Nitzana Harkness and Tad Collins received Hardest Worker, Gray River Pearl received Most Improved, and Amika Begin and Eva Wrobel received Most Inspirational.

For the high school band, Robert Akerley won Most Dedicated, Owen Cleveland won Hardest Worker, Perrine Breche won Most Improved, and Asher Hughes won Most Inspirational.

Moving on to the choirs, for the sixth grade choir, Bella Watts received Most Dedicated, Meko Eich received both Hardest Worker and Most Inspirational, and Lillian Troy, Dylan Ralph, and Rowan Keeney won Most Improved.

For the seventh and eighth grade choir, Eliza Moore and Zoe Patterson Blake won Most Dedicated, Naima Bullings and Rory McLaughlin won Hardest Workers, Libby Chandler won Most Improved, and Penny Bodnar won Most Inspirational.

For the festival choir, Morgan Lake received Most Dedicated, Trinity Prahl received Hardest Worker, Liam Robertson, and Reya Levy received Most Improved, and Lucy Schalz and Blue Garcia-Paine received Most Inspirational.

For the Loquations, Aya Pelkum Donahue won Most Dedicated, Laila Waldron won Hardest Worker, Maggie Lake, Jolie Turner, and Hayden Hardt-Zeman won Most Improved, and Ande Hammers won Most Inspirational.

For the sixth grade orchestra, Oscar Lammers Van Toorenberg won Most Dedicated, Isla Harmon won Hardest Worker, Elsa Richardson, and Brynn Herzfeld won Most Improved, Phin Wallace won Most Inspirational, and Jenson Prahl won the All-Around Achievement award.

For middle school orchestra, Juniper Hall received Most Dedicated, Evelyne Stanton received Hardest Worker, Mathilde Castruccio and Ivy Koltz received Most Improved, and Lyle Kress received Most Inspirational.

For high school orchestra, Gary Koziel received Most Dedicated, Kai Murphy received Most Improved, Lukey Mahorski-Bodley received Most Inspirational.

On top of these awards were the Outstanding Musician Awards and overall awards for orchestra, band, and choir. Ande Hammers won the National School Orchestra Award, Kevin Ackerman won the John Philip Sousa Award, and Skylar Abookire and Annabel Ivey won the National School Choral Award. Finally, two to three students per grade won the Outstanding Musician Award: Isla Harmon and Tyler Begin in sixth grade, Lucy Budde and Logan Hanley in seventh grade, Amika Begin, Hazel Kelley, and Lola Kelley in eighth grade, Tyler Goodnow and Sierra Tomlinson in ninth grade, Aya Pelkum Donahue and Amelie Bodnar in tenth grade, Blue Garcia-Paine, Asher Hughes, and Clara Miller in eleventh grade, and Noah Turner and Skylar Abookire in twelfth grade.

Then, on May 11, the school celebrated the achievements of their thespians with their theater awards. Many thespians were inducted into the International Thespian Society (ITS), having earned at least 10 points (the equivalent of 10 hours) through their participation in theater. Evelyn Leary and Abigail Hess have earned 10 points each, Keegan Curry 12, Hazel Kelley 13, Lola Kelley 15, Tyler Goodnow 16, and Amika Begin 20. All of them will be inducted into ITS next year. Trinity Prahl has earned 11 points, Mason Ivey 12, Eli Weiner 13, Keahi Pelkum Donahue 14, Eliza Brundege 16, Aiden Cleveland 20, Ben Weber 30, and Sierra Tomlinson 36. All of them were inducted into ITS this year. Finally, Honor Thespians were recognized. Amelie Bodnar has earned 20 points, Opal Kinnikin 23, Morgan Lake 27, Annabel Ivey 40, Aya Pelkum Donahue 41, Noah Turner 50, Ande Hammers 54, Lucas Schalz 60, Blue Garcia-Paine 60, Maggie Lake 64, and Skylar Abookire and Lucy Schalz 113 each.

Thespians were recognized for their achievements at the Colorado Thespian Conference, where they received positive feedback on individual event performances. Ande Hammers and Lucy Schalz, Skylar Abookire and Annabel Ivey, and Aya Pelkhum Donahue and Sierra Tomlinson all earned an Excellent rating for their duet musical performances, and Lucy Schalz earned a Superior rating for her solo monologue and will be attending Nationals in June.

Then the awards were given out. First, the student director awards were given to the directors of the 2022 fall plays – Skylar Abookire, Lucy Schalz, Blue Garcia-Paine, Noah Turner, and Ande Hammers. Then, awards were given to the actors for their hard work and dedication to their roles. Ben Weber received the Supporting Actor in a Male Role Award, Aya Pelkhum Donahue received the Supporting Actor in a Female Role Award, Kyle King received the Best Actor in a Male Role Award, and Ande Hammers received the Best Actor in a Female Role Award.

Maggie Lake and the fall play directors were also celebrated for their work student-directing the spring musical, Footloose. After that, the technical awards for the musical were given out. Lucas Schalz won the award for Technical Director of the Year, Keahi Pelkhum Donahue won Best Lighting Designer, Eli Weiner won Technician of the Year, Amelie Bodnar won Stage Manager of the Year, and Jace Thurston and Ezekiel Fitzer won Rookies of the Year. The Dance Captain Awards were given to Lucy Schalz and Maggie Lake, and the Dance Awards were given to Trinity Prahl and Noah Turner.

Finally, awards were given out to the cast members of the musical. Morgan and Maggie Lake received the Ready, Willing, and Able Award, Aiden Cleveland received the award for Teachable and Adaptable, Tyler Goodnow received the Oh! What a Character Award and the full cast of the Footloose opener received the award for Best Ensemble. Austin Chareunsouk won the award for Supporting Actor in a Male Role, Lucy Schalz, Skylar Abookire, and Blue Garcia-Paine won Supporting Actor in a Female Role, Noah Turner won Best Actor in a Male Role, and Sierra Tomlinson and Ande Hammers won Best Actor in a Female Role.

Throughout the year, the theater and music departments of NMSHS have proven themselves to be full of talented and dedicated students eager to learn, willing to improve their craft, and excited to show themselves on stage. The Music and Theater Awards demonstrate that ultimately, all of the hard work these students put into their performances pays off by entertaining the community, bringing a smile to the faces of everyone that watches them. If this year’s awards are anything to go by, the music and theater departments at Nederland have a bright future ahead of them.