Cove High School showcases talent at Fine Arts Gala

By DAVID J. HARDIN

Cove Leader-Press

Immense talent filled the air inside of the Lea Ledger Auditorium at Copperas Cove High School Saturday night as musicians, dancers, singers, actors, and magicians performed during the first-ever Fine Arts Gala hosted by Copperas Cove Cove High School and CCISD. Artworks made by Cove High students were also on display in the lobby of the auditorium.

The event was the idea of senior Mirko Enriquez, who is involved with the Theatre Arts Department. His idea was to create a showcase where many of his friends and others who are involved with fine arts can show off their talents. He had thought about doing this for over a year, and with the help of his theatre arts teacher, Emily Pastore, the Cove Fine Arts Gala became a reality Saturday night.

“It was a stressful but rewarding effort, and thanks to the many people involved it was a success,” Enriquez said.

Theatre arts teacher Emily Pastore has been teaching at Cove High for one year and spent the previous two years at S.C. Lee Junior High School.

“This event is a chance to show the community that Cove High school students have many different and unique talents,” Pastore said. She added that she was really proud of how hard Enrique has worked to make this event possible and hopeds this becomes an annual tradition.

Samantha Manuel is an art teacher at the high school and has been teaching there for three years. She is also the Fine Arts Chair. Maneuel said that recently 38 of her students competed at the Visual Arts Scholastic Event Competition and 30 of her students received a medals for their art work. Two of her students will be competing in the state competition. She was extremely happy with the results and is excited for the opportunity to show her students' talents to the local community during the Fine Arts Gala.

The gala was filled with one performance after another. Dylan Olmstead and Kameron Gaskin served as the masters of ceremony for the evening. They opened the show with some magic tricks. They were followed by talented dancers, singers, actors, and musicians.

Olmstead, who is a senior, and Gaskin, a junior, said they enjoyed being a part of something so special, and were happy when asked to host as well as perform their magic acts.

Freshman Caylyn Schafer said she enjoys acting and plans to do it for the remainder of her time at Cove High School

The gala was an opportunity to see that Copperas Cove High School is filled with students who have high hopes and dreams for when they graduate and move on to the next chapter in their lives.