WGHS Fine Arts Dept Celebrates Under the Spotlight

Fine Art students here at Walnut Grove High School love what they do and love making memories. This allows students to communicate to others about fine arts and what each has to offer!
by Corynne Cox, Brooks Conner, and Nala Porter

​Melanie Carter and Xaveyon Williams are both students here at WGHS. Both have been in band for quite some time. Melanie says, "I play bari sax, and I play it because it's really awesome and low. But also some people told me, 'Oh, you can't play bari sax because you're a girl and you're too short,' but look at me now.” Melanie also draws lots of motivation from her friends, whom she is always determined to keep up with: "I wanna keep up with them 'cause if we are gonna be good, we are gonna be good together." Xaveyon says he's always taken a liking to music ever since he was really young and has lots of passion for band. His interest in band spiked since he's always been around music and has always had tons of love for it: "I've always loved music since I was a little kid, so it's mostly just passion. And I realized some of my friends are in there, and I heard about the good community in band, so I joined." The Walnut Grove Marching Band has won all different types of trophies at many different competitions! "We got Silver Division Grand Champions, and percussion got 1st and almost podium overall during 2024."

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Alivia Joiner and Riley Strickland are both experienced vocalists here at WGHS. What first got Alivia into chorus was her schedule for freshman year. “I was put in it my freshman year and ended up liking it, so I stayed in it.” She sings alto, and her favorite piece to sing is For Good: “With 'For Good,' it's just memories. It’s like when all the seniors leave and stuff.” Riley is a soprano 2, but if she had a choice, she would immediately choose to be an alto since it's a lower tone and she doesn't do well with singing higher pitches: “I would change it to an alto because it's lower, and I cannot sing high.” Joiner's biggest inspiration and motivation is that she genuinely enjoys chorus and loves the opportunity to meet and make new friends: “Once you get into it, it's really fun, and you make a lot of friends. Chorus is a really amazing community to meet new people.”


Elysia Mooneyhan, a senior at Walnut Grove High School, is a passionate and dedicated actress in drama. Mooneyhan has always had a passion for drama: “I got into drama because I've been doing it since middle school, and then it has always been a passion of mine. So during open house of my freshman year, I just stopped by the drama classroom.” Elysia’s motivation to continue drama is the environment and the family and friends she's made along the way: “We're such a tight community, and everyone is there for each other.” She further explained her favorite memories in drama: “My favorite memory is whenever we're in the wings backstage while a show is going on, and we're being silly and acting out what they're doing onstage while we're backstage... it makes everyone giggle and brings us together.” Elysia loves what she does as an actor, but if she could change her role for one day, she would be a director: “...I would change to being a stage manager or director.” Over the years, out of all of the plays, Elysia’s favorite play was Tuck Everlasting: “It was in my freshman year, and it was so much fun. It's what got me into theatre, and the music and choreography were so fun.”

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​Felicia Moise and Dylan Martinez-Ramirez are both extremely passionate about art and the art they create. Dylan expressed, "I have always loved doing art my whole life." Martinez-Ramirez says his favorite memory is joining the honor society: "Joining the National Honor Society is my favorite—you get to do fun activities out of school." Felicia has lots of support. Her biggest motivation is her family: "My family has always been very supportive of me, what I want to do, and who I am as a person." Both students enjoy Advanced Art and have made many pieces they love and cherish. One project Dylan worked on even got put in the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport: "I play soccer, so it was really fun to make a jersey for the World Cup. It got hung up in the Atlanta airport." Mrs. Boyett is a really big motivation for many of her students. She's always supporting her students and serves as a big inspiration to her Advanced Art students.

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