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"Topeka Arts"
Adam Burnett
Topeka High School, Class of 2003
The most significant accomplishments I have achieved and that I am most proud of during my four-year tenure in high school have been in the arts, not only in my school but also in my community. Upon entering high school I saw many elements of the arts in the city of Topeka, Kansas lacking, or not up to where I knew they could and should be. I shared my vision with the supervisor at the Helen Hocker Theatre, a local theatre fostering the arts to the youth with its teenage troupe The Bath House Players. I explained to the supervisor my desire to bring in more people, for the community to have more of an interest and involvement in the art of theatre. This could be done, I told her, by showcasing original, cutting edge plays, and it could also serve as a fundraiser for the theatre and a learning experience for the Bath House Players.
Each year since I have written a script and seen it through production, either by acting in it or serving as the director. The last three (Absence of Normality, The Noble Truth and Art Imitates) collectively brought in over forty five hundred dollars for Helen Hocker Theatre and the Bath House Players. Particularly significant is the way people from the surrounding community who would not regularly attend a play showed up to see these original productions that were completely student run; and came off more professional than many of the adult shows other theatres in the area were producing. I truly do believe that the more the public realizes just how essential the theatre is to their liveliness, the easier contemporary drama can a find an accessible place in our society.
Another project I originated was the Mandala Film Festival at my high school, which was a division of the art and literary book, the Mandala. Since the budget had been cut last year, we were receiving very little funds to produce the yearly book featuring the art and literary works of the student body, so fundraising was essential. I thought to myself, since the Mandala showcases art and writing, why not branch out and showcase the art that moves and the writing that speaks? And it was out of that idea that the first annual Mandala Film Festival was established. Seven original, inventive and diverse student films were showcased at the first festival and it was definitely a successful endeavor.
This year we will hold the second annual Mandala Film Festival in March and already we are receiving a great deal of positive response from the student body. Another division of Mandala I am going to originate this year is Poetry and Jazz night as another fundraiser. The Mandala is something I have truly been passionate about during my high school career and I want it to be there for all the students after me. And it is a very comforting feeling to know that a little piece of me will always be there, not only in the history of the Mandala as a student-produced publication, but within the breadth of what it has done for the arts at Topeka High school.
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