POCATELLO — While it was incredible to see his students at Century High School take home their fourth consecutive 4A state drama competition title, coach Ted Bonman says the camaraderie shown between both his students and those at Highland High School, who won their second straight 5A title, was even better.
“I heard this letter from adults who were sitting in the audience nearby because I was up on the stage handing out medals,” Bonman said. “But what I heard and what I saw was pretty remarkable. When Highland got announced as the 5A drama champions, so many Century students shouted ‘horns up’ and were cheering and supporting their friends from Highland High School.”
He continued, “And when the Century kids got up to receive the trophy for the 4A division, the loudest cheers were from students at Highland High School. I think one of the best stories of our district is how our kids support each other, get along and are each other’s biggest fans.”
Held at Century High School on Dec. 1 and 2, the state drama competition pitted students from 45 schools across Idaho against one another to determine who’s acting and technical skills reigned supreme.
“This is a competitive event where students prepare and rehearse short pieces of theater,” Bonman said. “These can range from comedic monologues to musical numbers performed by up to five students to completely silent pantomime performances that are done with the accompaniment of music and sound effects. There is also a technical competition where students prepare costumes, makeup designs, scenic designs, etc. All of these pieces the students rehearse, design, build and prepare are set before panels of judges.”
He continued, “The pieces that are judged as the best in any given round advance to the state competition, where once again they’re judged before several panels of judges. The folks who get the best ranks and rates overall, earn medals for their teams and whichever team gets the most points based on how many of its competitors made it to the semifinals and final events, that’s the team that wins its division.”
Students are able to participate in either two acting and one technical pieces, or vice versa, Bonman said.
And at the very end of the two day competition, Century was crowned as having the best drama students out of every 4A school that participated, its fourth consecutive title. And Highland students, the same year they experienced the devastating loss of the D-Wing of their school following an April 21 fire, were crowned the 5A state champs for the second consecutive year.
“This is a really difficult competition,” Bonman said. “You know, art is pretty subjective, right? And what people consider to be good can vary from judge to judge. But despite all of that, for the teams to come through, both Highland and Century, against 45 other schools is quite an accomplishment. It suggests that our kiddos on average, when you can take in all of the judges’ feedback, are among the best artists in the state. That they’re able to do this feat consistently really speaks to how hard these kids work, getting this kind of stuff ready.”
Seven of the performances from Century High School students made it to the semifinal round and six made it to the finals, including a first place in the Solo Serious category from Bryce Johnson and a second place finish from Will Leavitt in the Solo Musical Theater category, according to a School District 25 Facebook post.
At Highland High School, nine of their performances placed, which marks the most in the school’s history. A total of 14 pieces made it to the finals and four made it to the semifinals, including a third place in Technical Makeup from Rebecca and Mckenzie Winward, the school’s first top three technical theater event since 1997, School District 25 said. Highland’s Payton Carter won first place in the Solo Humorous category a year after taking home the same prize.
“We are so proud of all of our students,” Bonman said. “I want everyone to know how proud I am of our kids at Century High School. They are exceptionally hardworking and creative young people and I couldn’t be prouder to work with such wonderful human beings.”
And while it was the students and their performances that took center stage, Bonman expressed a level of gratitude that the competition was held in the Gate City, especially during a weekend with some recent snowfall, which gave all of those in attendance a beautiful backdrop of an Idaho winter wonderland.
“I was upstairs in Century’s media center with a couple other coaches from other districts,” Bonman said. “And as you know, last weekend we got a bit of snow that covered the tops of the mountains. We were all looking out the big windows right up in the media center there and they said, ‘Wow, it’s really gorgeous out here.’ That was nice because sometimes you forget about how gorgeous it is where we live and it’s nice to see it through other people’s eyes sometimes.”