De Soto High School comes out on top for performing arts

De Soto High School achieved excellence as the winner of the 2023-24 KSHSAA Performing Arts School of Excellence award. 

KSHSAA recognized the school based on the combination of competitive high scores in debate, speech, music and theater. 

“I was surprised, completely surprised. I had no clue,” Band Director Matt Bradford said. “(I’m) very proud of our department and in our students because a lot of this is them.”

This is the first year De Soto has received the award. In 2021, the school was commended. 

KSHSAA ranks schools into three categories that includes one winner, finalists and commended mentions. There were six finalists and 11 commended schools this year. 

“Some schools have a really fine music program. And some schools have a really fine debate, speech program, and some schools have a really fine theater program. This is all encompassing,” said Craig Manteuffel, KSHSAA assistant executive director of fine arts and spirit.

Each year in May, after KSHSAA compiled data from championships, competitions and festivals, it forms a committee and brings together two members of leadership from each organization, Kansas Music Educators Association, Kansas Speech Communication Association and Kansas Thespian, to decide which schools are finalists, Manteuffel said. KSHSAA ultimately chooses the winner.

“They (DHS) scored high,” Manteuffel said. “Their data was really good and really high across the board of all performing arts activities and that’s why they were selected.” 

The administration and performing arts staff will be honored next Friday (Sept. 1) with a plaque during the football game. 

“The award itself is a really cool idea that recognizes the combination of all of the different disciplines in the performing arts,” Assistant Director of Band Philip Kaul said. 

The thing that draws a lot of people to performing arts in the first place is the additional time spent outside of class, Kaul said. 

“You put in all of this time, and that’s what makes being a part of performing arts so rewarding is you build these relationships with people and a deeper relationship with whatever material it is you’re working with,” Kaul said. 

Dedication, time, effort and camaraderie among staff are what make the difference in achieving success, especially in performing arts.

“It’s that expectation that we do what’s good for the kids, whatever that ends up being, whatever time it ends up taking. We’re doing it because it’s part of the base initiative,” debate and forensics head coachWill Mercer said. 

Bradford agreed and added that being a teacher is hard, but being a fine arts teacher is challenging because time away from family causes tension. It happens everywhere, at every school, Bradford said. 

Performing arts is in a unique position where students learn and build their skills from the same teachers through high school, versus learning one subject for one year with one teacher, Choir Director Mindy Fry said. 

“Part of the reason that putting in the time that we do and the effort that we do is so rewarding is because we get to see that growth of that kid from freshman to senior year,” Fry said. 

Support from colleagues is also important to staff because many students participate in multiple activities.

“We all get along and support each other and work really hard to make sure that kids can be in band, choir, debate or whatever it is,” Fry said.

One thing Mercer emphasizes in his teaching is “that there’s more to life than just the single activity that you’re involved in.” 

“I think promoting that kind of atmosphere pays dividends for the kids,” Mercer said. 

He and the performing arts faculty teach skills that are transferable to other mediums, Mercer said. 

Performing arts can also be a safe environment for students, which has become more important in the last five to seven years as mental health has become more of a struggle, Fry said. 

“Our departments can really help kids find that confidence or find a group of like-minded people where they can feel safe and comfortable at school,” Fry said.

There’s a place in different programs for every person regardless of his or her starting ability level or how competitive they want to be, Kaul said. 

“We will meet every kid wherever they are and take them to where they want to be regardless of where that starting and end point might look like for different kids,” Kaul said. 

For Kaul, the students he’s spoken to thought the recognition was cool because it was a department award.

“The band kids weren’t being awarded just because of band, but they were part of a larger organization,” Kaul said. “It’s supporting more well-rounded students that can be successful in a lot of different avenues.”

Reach De Soto correspondent Katherine Diaz at [email protected].