Academy senior Amanda Bell received a “Superior” rating for her monologues at District 9 IEs (Individual Events) on Saturday, October 20, at Wharton High School. This competition marked the first for newly formed Academy Thespians team.

Bell is now eligible to compete at the State Festival in March.”Getting involved in this has been something that I’ve wanted to accomplish at Academy since freshman or sophomore year. It was me and Caroline de Quesada actually. It finally got approved by administration this past summer and I think being involved in something like this will really boost the school’s program up, especially in the long run. It’s nice to see that  I’ve finally left my mark on Academy during my senior year and it is such a blessing to have received the Superior mark.”

The event included theater activities such as monologues, duet acting, and ensemble acting. Over 300 students from various schools in the District attended this exciting, all-day event.

Even though Academy students had never participated in this event before, all 15 girls performed flawlessly. They performed in rooms while being watched by two to four judges and received scores based on a number system between one and thirty. The score determines the five different ranking options: poor, fair, good, excellent, and superior.

“Excellent” ratings went to Meghan Wallace for solo musical, Alejandra Lozano and Lexi Nieto for duet musical, Jessica Riddle for monologues, and Jacqueline Do, Liv Gessner, and Sherine Hamade for ensemble acting.