Every year the theater puts on a play or musical at the end of the year to celebrate and recognize all the hard work the seniors in theater have put in.

This year with the help of the new theater teacher Burgandy Trimmer students have decided to instead of a play or musical they are going to put on a showcase to give all the seniors their last hurrah.

Some of the things that are going to be included in the showcase are monologues, short acts and musical performances.

The senior performers are Tyra Williams, Joshua Solis, Maritza Ramirez, Chris Mendez, Abby Jaimes, Gavin Vigil, Celina Tijerina, Omar Webb and Jose Salazar.

The performance will be held in the theater after school on May 25.

Theater students have put a tremendous amount of work into everything they have done. They stay after school and rehearse their parts every night, during class and even at home on their free time.

“These students are extremely dedicated to their acting and the showcase will give them the recognition that they deserve,” said theater tech teacher Erica Vallejo.

Some seniors said they are sad they are about to end their career in the Akins Journey Theatre company. Senior Abby Jaimes said she is concerned she might not have the same opportunities she had to perform outside of Akins.

“I am excited to finally finish school, but also sad for the opportunities I’m going to have in the theater outside of high school,” she said.

The senior showcase isn’t just for people in theater to watch. Anyone can go if they just want to be entertained and to support the seniors who are getting ready to graduate and to celebrate all of the hard work that goes into getting a production put together.

Trimmer, who started at Akins this year, said she is excited to see the students graduate even though she has only been their teacher for the past year. She said she is happy to see the confidence each of them have built through their years of performances with the Akins theatre department.

“This show was completely created and put together by the students, and even though I have only had them for a short time I feel close to them and I know they will be successful,” Trimmer said.

Erica Vallejo who has been working with them since they were freshman has been able to see them grow “not only as actors but also as people.”