The fine arts program is made up of diversity. Students come from all different backgrounds, grade levels and levels of experience. For sophomore Allison Beckman, however, fine arts has always held a huge impact.

“I’ve been involved with theater since as young as age of seven with my siblings,” Beckman said.

Acting, however, isn’t her only skill; Beckman has played the violin for 11 years alongside her older siblings.

As her sophomore year comes to a close, Beckman reveals that she does have some goals to meet before her 2020 class graduation.

“I want to be accomplished enough where people not only know me for orchestra, but also for theater performance,” Beckman said. “I want to be known as a great performer and be a role model to other future performers.”

The theater program is booming with plenty of shows throughout both semesters, but perhaps the most attended show is the spring musical. This is the show that lures in the most students from each of the four branches of the fine arts program: theater, band, orchestra and choir. Preparation for this year’s show, The Addams Family, began the second week of February, with auditions and callbacks taking place the week prior. Keeping a balanced schedule during musical season in particular can seem almost impossible; rehearsals, homework and other activities like sports, clubs or obligations outside of the school can pile on rather quickly. However, this sophomore has proven that she is fully capable of doing so.

“Unfortunately I’ve had to give up a lot of personal things, such as not being able to do track or other outside school activities because of how time consuming the the production can get and I often have to change my work schedule depending on our practices and showtimes,” Beckman said. “But in the end it works out to be worth it.”

Fellow thespian junior Kenzie Michalski is a good friend of Beckman’s and has only good things to say about her skill.

“Allison is super talented and once she establishes a connection with a character, she’s super passionate and has a real fire inside,” Michalski said.

With roughly half of a semester left of her sophomore year, Beckman has undoubtedly made quite a large impact on the theater and orchestra program thus far. However, she doesn’t plan on stopping here. Beckman plans to pursue acting as a career after high school, but for now is focused on reaching the aforementioned goals.

“Fine arts can be a very frustrating business and I’ve experienced these frustrations firsthand,” Beckman said. “Giving up on it won’t make you feel any better and learning to get over your own disappointments is one of the most important skills to develop when pursuing and participating in fine arts.”

Being a dedicated member of a theater program can seem like a lot of work, but Beckman knows that at the end of the day doing what she loves will always payoff.

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Joy Crawford