High school students across North East ISD are being recognized as National Merit Scholarship winners. Last year, the District had an incredible 41 National Merit Scholars and the number is expected to be just as high in the 2019-2020 school year.
North East School of the Arts (NESA) senior Gaby Garza just found out that she’s a National Merit Scholarship recipient, which means she scored incredibly high on the PSAT her junior year. This accomplishment is even more impressive because she’s a double major at NESA, studying dance and musical theater.
“I have always wanted to do more of the performance aspect of dance like dancing on stage, theatrical stuff, “said Garza. “So, I’ve known since I was like seven that I was going to come here. When I was in Phantom of the Opera I just kind of fell in love with theater and dance. When I found out the two were cohesive I decided to go for it, and I auditioned to double major my sophomore year.”
Attending NESA was the ultimate goal for Garza all through her years at Roan Forest Elementary School, Cibolo Green Elementary School and Tejeda Middle School. Her father is a former math teacher at Reagan High School and her mother is an Instructional Specialist for alternative learning environment (ALE) students in the District.
Garza attributes NESA teachers Dena Mabry and Carolyn Gresham for so much of her success on stage and in the classroom. She started taking dance lessons with Mabry when she was six.
“They’re two of my biggest cheerleaders so I’m really thankful that they’ve been there through it all,” said Garza. “They’ve both been such huge influences in my life and they’re amazing teachers on top of that so I have so much to thank them for.”
Electing to become a double major at NESA means embracing an often grueling schedule and challenging workload, but Garza says the faculty is determined to see their students soar, not fail.
“I came into musical theater feeling incredibly intimidated by the amount of talent here and they talked to me personally and really got a feel for what I wanted to get out of the program,” said Garza. “They wanted to know what I needed and they continue to support me every day.”
Click here to learn more about NESA.
