The spotlight is shining on two Canyons District high school theater teams that are taking well-deserved bows as the state champions in their divisions.
For the third year in row, Hillcrest’s drama students won a state championship at the state theater festival. Corner Canyon’s program, competing in 6A, claimed its first-ever Utah High School Activities Association state championship in theater.
The Huskies’ overall 5A sweepstakes win also comes as the school receives the Best of State award in theatrical education for the second consecutive year.
“It’s neat to be recognized for specifically the education side,” says Josh Long, Hillcrest theater director. “No one ever sees the day to day of what we’re doing. But either way, it’s about our work with the kids — that fulfillment comes on the daily in the classes when the kids are improving and growing.”
Phaidra Atkinson, Corner Canyon’s theater-education director, said the group of Charger performers who vied for the state title “was really special this year.”
“They were some of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen,” Atkinson said, “and we thought we had a good chance because these kids are really up there — and they really want it.”
Corner Canyon theater students have been practicing a one-act play and individual performances for months, she said. They were asked to have their lines memorized when they returned from Winter Recess. In the months since, they’ve done constant rehearsals.
“I don’t even think we felt like we had it in the bag until they actually announced our name,” says Case Hamilton, who also teaches theater classes at Corner Canyon.
When Corner Canyon’s team was announced as the big winners, the students erupted into cheers. Hamilton said he was even shaking with the joy of the moment.
Beyond the bragging rights of being state champions, Atkinson and Hamilton say theater classes — and competitions — help students learn to collaborate, take direction, work hard, take risks, and develop resiliency.
“They learn it takes a lot of effort and time and energy,” says Atkinson. “They’re learning life lessons. It doesn’t matter if they do theater or not later in life. It teaches them all these skills as they go out into the world to be successful in whatever field they choose — because they took theater.”
Hamilton says students already use the skills they learn on the stage. “Our kids are never nervous to go to job interviews,” he says, “they’re not nervous to do presentations or to approach other people. I think it helps them no matter what they choose to do.”
Hillcrest’s reputation as a powerhouse in the performing arts was further solidified with the historic state win. Hillcrest is the first 4A, 5A, or 6A school to clinch the top spot for three years in a row. Also, all 25 of Hillcrest performances received medals for a “Superior” rating from judges.
“That was a big thing we talked about this year,” Hillcrest theater student Ellie Spilker says, “because we’ve won two years in a row, everyone is working that much harder because we wanted to do something that had never been done before.”
Spilker sought to attend Hillcrest for its theater program. “I specifically chose to go out of my (school) boundaries to go to Hillcrest, where a program could exist and be supported like it is here.”
Spilker says she plans to study theater in college after graduating as part of Hillcrest’s Class of 2025.
“Theater has taught me to work hard and expect nothing,” she says. “When you believe in the art you’re doing, and you’re lifting up the audience because you love art and love sharing it, finding that balance is the key. … Finding the joy in art has been everything for me.”
