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Artist Spotlight: Alyssa Gillies

Alyssa Gillies, triple threat in the fine arts department, is very involved at Woodland High School as a part of the theater club, band, and art classes. Along with the arts, she is also the 2023 class president.

“I was always involved academically,” said Gillies. “But something about the arts felt less like school and more like a hobby where you can enjoy yourself.”

Although Gillies is involved with the band, she is not a part of class. She found it hard to fit the class into her schedule while reaching her academic goals and earning her credits. She played the trumpet for five years, through the end of elementary school to middle school, but recently switched to baritone and has been playing that for about a year. In addition, she has also played xylophone and marimba.

For one year while Gillies was in middle school, she was a member of the theater club but eventually switched to jazz band. She enjoyed theater in middle school so much that she decided to pick it back up again this year. Ever since joining theater club, Gillies has found one of her passions. She loves the club so much that she wants to continue to do it after highschool. So far within Woodlands theater program, Gillies has acted in “The One-Act Play That Goes Wrong.” Mr. Simonetti thought she’d be a good fit for the role of Cecil so she tried out and got the part. She hopes to eventually join the program “Connecticut Hurricanes.”

“When you get into these programs and you meet everyone, they are always so accepting because we are there for one thing. Even if you have no clue what to talk about, with these people there is always one common thing you can always discuss.”

Although she participates in theater the most, she also has taken skills one art class and band. Gillies enjoyed the band because of the great experiences she has with it and because she can do it inside and outside of Woodland.

Gillies is known for being such an involved individual and will definitely go far with the arts she is involved in.

Grace Tottenham

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