LV Charter HS for the Arts (Charter Arts) has already had a packed year. In September, Charter Arts was one of the 349 schools in the nation to be named a 2018 National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence by the U.S. Department of Education. The Blue Ribbon Award recognizes public, private and charter schools on their excellence in academic performances. The award attests to the hard work done by faculty, staff and students and the results of positive education. Charter Arts proudly claimed the award, as announced by Betsy DeVos in October.

Charter Arts opened its performance season with the late October performance of “The Crucible,” directed by Christopher Morris. The production, featuring around 20 cast members from the theater major, starred Derrek Sanders as John Proctor, Hannah McCalla as Elizabeth Proctor, and Marcella Karam as Abigail Proctor.

The actors performed phenomenally, and the play, as traditional as it may be, was reinvisioned in a new light, insinuating that the issues of alienation during the Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare have not disappeared.

While the year of 2018 is not necessarily filled with murders of accused witches, the accusatory nature of people and their differences still leaves work to be done on our societal norm. The play offered a stunning example of the hard work done by the students and faculty, and was a fantastic start to the performance season.

The performance season was also granted a fantastic new attraction set up by the students of Charter Arts’ new major, Production Design! The haunted house, titled the “Nevermore Mansion,” featured sights and scares based upon the famous artist of the Romantic period, Edgar Allan Poe. The attraction featured sections of the “mansion” based on some of Poe’s most famous works, such as “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Raven.”

The major, currently only composed of freshmen, impressed the rest of the school with their dedication and hard work to produce this fantastic event. Theater students were invited to perform as horrific characters within the feature, and performed excellently. Ms. Labadie has done a fantastic job with this new major, showcasing the talents of the students, and having the school looking forward to their productions in the future.

Literary Arts has been quite busy as well, and has?and will continue to?perform at Cafe the Lodge the second Friday of every month. The monthly readings are open to the public, and are executed by a predetermined list of students performing their own works, ranging from poetry, to humorous short stories, to music. As well as being open to the public, the performances usually offer an Open Mic sign-up in which anyone attending may perform some of their own works.

The Literary Arts department has been invited back again and again by the owners and managers of Cafe the Lodge, due to the exceptional work that is performed, and the turn out and appreciation from the public. These events are held from 6-8 p.m. and offer a variety of works from different students, showcasing the talent across the high school students and the public.

As well as the upcoming readings executed by the Literary Arts department, the Dance department is putting on its annual performance of Dance Soup Nov. 16 and 17. The work is student-choreographed and showcases the incredible talent from the dance students in terms of choreography and performance.

The show has been a hit each year, and is deemed “a must-see” by many of the students, teachers, faculty and members of the public. This year the performance is held at 7 p.m. both dates, and offers a matinee at 2 p.m. on Nov. 17. The event is open to the public, and is a performance worth one’s time. Multiple fantastic pieces will be showcased, and the event is guaranteed to leave the public in wonderment.