Thirty-five Mount Pleasant High School Art students earned high ratings for their pieces at the recent Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) at the Region 8 ESC. Three students will move on to the state competition in San Marcos this April. Art pieces were scored as a 4 (Excellent), a 3 (Strong), a 2 (Developing), or a 1 (Emerging). Twenty-nine students scored a 4 and the remaining six earned a 3.

Earning scores of 4 (Excellent) and moving on to state are senior Zarahi De La Rosa, sophomore Mya Clark and freshman Mariana Gonzalez.

Earning scores of 4 (Excellent) include Luis Becerra, Rosario Bello, Eimy Candelaro, Jose Castro, Jose Chavez, Parker Colley, Shelby Courreges, Dianna Daugherty, Hector Escobar, Tykerries Farrier, Cessia Gonzalez, Elian Gonzalez, Alexandra Ibanez, Zaushalynn Lee, Ita-ii Luna, Lluvia Melendez, Danielle Merriman, Anaeli Navarro, Juan Perez, Dulce Sanchez, Johann Sanchez, Alex Solis, Ashlee Stoffel, Allyson Swafford, Paola Ventura De La Cruz, and Maddison Weddle.

Earning scores of 3 (Strong) are Christopher Bello, Gissel Delgado, Luiz Olvera, Marco Ponce, Jaime Villarreal, and Kurion Walker.

“We took 35 students to the regional competition and brought home 29 medals,” said MPHS Art teacher Laura Kirkland. “I am now Regional Director so my students and I, along with a handful of volunteers, were in charge of running the entire event. And they did an amazing job! I am blown away at how my students stepped up to help in areas I didn’t even have to tell them. I am very proud of how our students did and how well they represented MPHS. Next time we will try to achieve all of us getting medals!”