Aubrey High School students who plan to continue their pursuits of the creative celebrated their future plans with a signing day on April 24.
Four band students and two art students sat on the stage of the auditorium before their peers, teachers and loved ones to commemorate the ways the AHS fine arts department has prepared them for their next phase of life.
'We're here to celebrate their next steps in their fine arts careers,' choir director Paul Norris said to the crowd, soliciting a round of applause for the seniors.
Jason Noyes, the AISD director of bands, spoke about his four students who are all planning to actively pursue music related degrees in college, speaking highly of each of them.
Auston Green will attend Full Sail University in Florida to study music production.
'I [will], hopefully soon, have my own record label,' he said. 'I'll be signing artists to it and helping them out in their field.'
Kaci Killingsworth, who plans to study music education and possibly music performance, will go down the road to the University of North Texas.
'I really love the staff there,' she said, based on her experience as part of the Denton Youth Symphony. 'I'm super excited to march in the Green Brigade, because marching has been one of my favorite parts of high school; it's taught me so much.'
Another AHS band member, Joseph Brown, will also study at UNT, with the intent to pursue music performance, focusing on French horn.
'I wanted to go because of location, but seeing how determined they are with music, it makes me even more excited,' Brown said, adding that he will also march in the Green Brigade.
Shawn Gelski, who helped lead the band as drum major, is planning to study music education with the intent to become a band director or conductor at either Liberty University or Abilene Christian University.
'This is a whole lot of fun to be recognized with all of these people that have really thrived in the fine arts,' Gelski said. 'Whether it's music or art, … it's a whole lot of fun to just get to experience everything that we've been able to do and accomplish throughout the four years of high school.'
The first of two art students to sign on Thursday, Sophia Lohden, will pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a tattoo artist with an apprenticeship at a Denton tattoo studio, at which she has already done her first tattoo on a client—a tooth surrounded by a red gradient.
'Our art teacher, Ms. [Jamie] Alexander—she's amazing,' she said, adding that she has been working at the studio since March. 'She's given me so many opportunities. She gave me the apprenticeship, actually.'
Her fellow art student Sarah Smith plans to attend Dallas Baptist University to major in art and education.
'I feel like I've always kind of known that this is what I've wanted to do,' Smith said. 'My older sister … was really into art and so she taught me a lot when I was younger, and then as I've gotten throughout high school, I just feel like I've just improved, and so this is really what I want to do.'
An additional art student was set to be honored— Isabella 'Leo' Marine Leon who will study animation and games at the University of Texas at Dallas—but was unable to make it to the signing day celebration.
Alexander shared her pride in her three seniors— the two present and the one who couldn't attend—for their talent and dedication to their art.
'I wish all these seniors could stay with me for a year longer,' she said. 'They've just done fantastic artwork.'
