By KATHY COPELAND / Community Columnist

Students and faculty at Vincent Middle High School continue to impress. Theater students performed an adapted version of Disney’s High School Musical Jr. on both Friday, May 11 and Saturday, May 12.

In front of a packed house, the students dressed in character and joined in song to portray the story of a small-town star athlete falling for a new-to-the-school brainy beauty. As it happens, the two met over school break and shared a love of music. Back at school, the unlikely match met many challenges from teachers, coaches, parents and peers, and jealous students.

The musical was not only fun to watch, but the staging and the costumes really put the audience in the scenario and some of the scenes actually caused pause and reflection about the message, which was a good one: Be who you are, and follow your dreams instead of conforming to the crowd. And parents were not let off the hook. There was a subtle caution about resisting the temptation to live out your dreams through your children.

The entire production was well done. There were solos and group song. There were a variety of acting parts providing all students the ability to be included in the production. It was obvious that a great deal of work went into the show, and each member of the Musical’s cast has a great deal to be proud of, as does the faculty involved.

“I am so proud of how talented and well-rounded our kids are, and it showed in this production,” school principal Dr. Michele Edwards said.

The musical’s director, Amy Lee expressed gratitude to art teacher Richard Green for creating a new and updated set for the production. Lee’s dedication to the student’s learning opportunity and their overall performance was apparent. “Ms. Lee, Ms. Davison, and Mr. Green have a way of harnessing the potential of our students and ending up with an amazing theatrical performance,” Edwards said.

The following Monday, the school showed off its fine arts talent with an art exhibit, and performances by both the band students and choral students from all grade levels. About 284 members of the student body were represented which is extremely impressive. Band Director Landon Manning was like a proud father talking about the level of interest in music the students of Vincent Middle High School exhibit year after year.

“We have over half of our students participating this year,” he said. “The talent pool in this community is really awesome.”

It is no wonder that there are so many stand-out students that graduate from Vincent schools.  Vincent Middle High School is another example of how teachers and faculty go above and beyond.

“We are lucky here, our teachers are great and they really care about our students,” Edwards said.