The PHS Drama Department held its annual departmental awards ceremony Thursday in the PHS Commons, with medal winners and letterwinners munching beforehand on a variety of sweet and savory snacks and congratulating one another for a successful year of drama.
Senior Karley Whelchel received the Jeff Bice Memorial Award, presented annually to the outstanding Drama Department student in the senior class. Bice was a graduate of Perry High School, and the drama and speech departments benefited from Jeff’s involvement, according the Merrilee Bales, PHS drama coach.
Bales and Vocal Music Director Jenn Nelson distributed the evening’s thespian honors, with medals going to Adrianna Eastman, Breanna Penenger, Karley Whelchel, Amani Al-Rashid, Sarah Sweet, Derek Hill, Madison Mason, Devon Archer, Brian Amaya, Delaney Eiteman and Brianna Fields.
Student letterwinners included Penenger, Eastman, Hill, Sweet, Al-Rashid, Whelchel, Amaya, Mason, Fields, Eiteman, Archer, Camden Studer, Claudia Vargas, Marqui Craddock, Maria Izquierdo, Anna Ridnour, Alexandra Tasler, Keegan Eastman, Madyson Hill, Kaylynn Bousman, Trinity Summerson, Adrianna Escalante, Fatima Rodriguez, Taylor Eppert, Jayden Whitney, Aliyah Taggart, Lainey Thomason, Dannah Karolus, Josline Irakoze, Roger Jacobson, Sierra Shore-Newton, Samantha Dahm, Skyler Feldman, Julia Stetzel, Saydee Strough, Kamryn Whelchel, Daniel Hill, , Grant Ecklund, Jairo Murillo, Beau Nelson, Jordan Rothmeyer and Sarah Vaughn.
The students were also excited about their recent awards from the Iowa High School Musical Theater Awards (IHSMTA) and their upcoming performance in the IHSMTS’ Showcase Monday, June 5 at 7 p.m. at the Des Moines Civic Center.
This spring’s stellar production of “Peter Pan” by the PHS ensemble earned awards for Breanna Penenger, who won for Outstanding Performance in a Principal Role, Anna Ridnour, who received Special Recognition for Performance as a Featured Dancer, the cast of “Indian Dance,” which was awarded a Distinguished Scene, and the entire production won a Special Recognition for Community Engagement award.