The Starkville Area Arts Council has announced the nine recipients of its College Arts Scholarships. Mykela Bricka, Louis Codling, Marina Dandass, Keats V. Haupt, Amy Hornsby, Mary Kate Hughes, Andrew Lark III, David McKell and Lacy Claire Whitten will soon enter college or university programs to pursue arts-related fields as their majors.
Scholarship applicants completed an essay and resumé and also submitted examples of their work.
Bricka, a Starkville Academy (SA) honor graduate, will study communications, with a theater emphasis, at Mississippi State University. The Varsity Cheer Squad member and Anchor Club president has been cast in all of her school’s musicals since seventh grade.
Codling has been accepted into the University of Mississippi theater program. The Starkville High School (SHS) honor graduate has received regional and state recognition for acting. His freshman and junior years, his role in Mississippi Theatre Association competition plays earned him a place as All-Star Cast member. He was also in the winning cast chosen as Mississippi’s secondary school representative to the Southeastern Theatre Association his sophomore year.
Dandass, an SHS honor graduate, recently won a National Scholastic Art Competition Award for her artwork. She plans to attend the Savannah School of Art and Design, with a major in art. Other interests in high school have been Key Club, Environmental Club and band.
SHS honor graduate Haupt, a Black Belt instructor in Taekwondo, was named Most Outstanding Art II Student, Most Outstanding Photography II Student and won the Genetics Award for highest average. She has membership in Mu Alpha Theta and served as assistant editor for “Writer’s Strike” her sophomore year.
Voted Most Outstanding by her Starkville Academy senior class, Hornsby has participated in SA musicals since seventh grade and the regional drama festival for two years. She was named Outstanding Senior in choir and named to the SA Hall of Fame. The Delta State Honor Choir member will pursue musical theater at the University of Mississippi.
Lark plans to attend the Savannah School of Art and Design to major in art. He recently won a national Scholastic Art Award. In addition to his success in applied art fields, Lark is an experienced drummer, pianist, bassist and guitarist. He is an SHS honor graduate.
McKell, who served as a section leader in the Starkville High marching band and symphonic band, has been accepted into the University of Mississippi Department of Theatre. He has been a cast member in three Starkville Academy musicals, two Starkville High musicals and a competition play at North Mississippi and Mississippi Theatre Association.
Starkville High honor graduate Whitten, a veteran of five musicals, has been admitted to the University of Alabama Theatre Department. High school highlights include her sophomore year, when Starkville High’s competition play advanced to the Southeastern Theatre Festival, and her senior year, when the SHS show earned Best Ensemble at regional and state levels. Whitten was also named to the Mississippi All State Honor Choir.
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