Building on the local tradition of annually honoring student athletes from Henderson County Public Schools’ high schools, the Hendersonville Kiwanis Club recently hosted the 1st Annual Fine & Performing Arts Awards luncheon.
The Hendersonville Kiwanis Club recognized 25 high school students this year for their achievements and skills in multiple artistic disciplines including Art, Band, Choral Music, Dance, Strings, and Theatre.
“One student from each arts discipline was chosen from each high school,” said Sharon Ashe, HCPS director of Math, Science, Foreign Language & Arts for Grades 6-12.
The students were chosen by their teachers, who created a rubric based on the Hendersonville Kiwanis Club’s award characteristics: character, achievements, creativity and technical skills.
From Balfour Education Center, Sabrina King and Kate Rivera Hernandez each earned awards for Visual Arts. From East Henderson High, Cara Thomsen was recognized for Orchestra, Julia Haynes for Dance, Annabelle Cram for Vocal Music, Micheala Orr for Visual Arts, Mitch Dennison for Band and Hannah Daniels for Theater.
From Hendersonville High, Mallori McFalls was recognized for Band, Guinevere Rodriguez for Visual Arts, Emma Schaefer for Strings, Kaila Johnson for Vocal Music and Eleanor Palmer for Theater. From North Henderson High, Hunter Holbert was recognized for Piano and Violin, Morgan Grindstaff for Dance, Samantha Searcy for Chorus, Ashley Ward for Visual Arts, Brandon Bane for Band and Jordan Briggs for Theater.
From West Henderson High, Jacob Shoemaker was recognized for Strings, Olivia Slagle for Theater, Shayna Landreth for Visual Arts, Jackie Karinja for Band, Jessica Parce for Dance and Madison Ross for Chorus.
Francis Cullinan, chair of The Arts Council of Henderson County board, addressed students, saying, “You all have a piece of my heart.” He said, “When all is measured by educational experts, the arts greatly improve the individual student who investigates and practices his chosen art form.”
Ashe said, “I feel very blessed every day that our county values the arts in our schools.”
(Article written by Molly McGowan Gorsuch, Henderson County Public Information Officer.)