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Meet Prep
Speech by Sandia Prep senior Evan Dixon to prospective students, families and guests at Meet Prep event, 10.26.08:
Hi, I am Evan Dixon. I’m a senior and today I’m here to tell you about my experience here at Prep. The first day of school I knew Prep was perfect for me, and I lived happily ever after, the end. No, not really. When I became a seventh grader, Sandia Prep hired two new drama teachers, Mrs. Kierst and Mr. Giannini. With their help, and that of Mr. McNamara, our tech theater instructor, I was able to discover talents that make me unique. The theater department here at Prep has made what you see standing here today.
In seventh grade, I was part of my first SPS high school production, Gypsy. I was Arnold, who played the clarinet — and not very well, I might add. After Gypsy I was hooked on theater. I participated in many middle school productions with Mr. Giannini. Since freshman year, I’ve been given the opportunity to be involved with every high school production either on or off the stage.
Because Sandia Prep provides me with so many extracurricular opportunities, I was able to be inducted into the International Thespian Society during my freshman year. As a group, we have worked hard to come up with new and exciting ways to get kids interested in theater. Our work paid off last year when more than twenty new Thespians were inducted into the Society. Last year, I was elected publicity chair. This year’s officers have big plans for the troupe, including our second annual musical theater revue and, in the spring, the continuation of the one-act shows, which are entirely directed and produced by students.
The arts are just one of Prep’s many strengths. Every day teachers craft new and exciting ways to learn. One of many such examples is Mr. Tregembo’s 8th grade English class. We would often go to the “cottonwood oasis” at the west end of campus and write about what we saw or felt. At the time I thought it was just a fun activity, but now I realize that he helped me to become a more descriptive writer.
This year in Mr. Polansky’s Biology 2 class, we are breeding drosophila melanogaster, also known as the common fruit fly. We received different types of flies to cross and text, in order to see what traits are dominant or recessive. I just finished my last initial cross this past week, so on your tour you could check out my new wild-yellow cross; there should be a few pupa cases and I’m sure Mr. Polansky will tell you about them.
This year I was given the chance to be in a brand new history class. Prep often creates new classes shaped by student interest in a subject not yet included in the curriculum. In this new Eastern and Western Philosophy class, each day we read articles and then discuss how the reading affects our beliefs. Sometimes you get massive headaches when you think too hard about what lies beyond the stars!
Over the past six and a half years, I have learned so much about myself as a student but also as a person.
I discovered that a family can be people who are not related. Over the past two months the cast and crew of The Importance of Being Earnest have been my family. They made one of my last shows here at Prep so very special and I would just like to take a moment to thank each one of them for that.
I have also learned the most important thing on which the Prep faculty focuses — that it is not what you learn but how you learn it. And I think that is what makes Sandia Prep perfect for me.
- Evan Dixon '09, Meet Prep event, 10.26.08