Inside CCSD’s Performing Arts Magic

Lights...Camera...CCSD Performing Arts. We pull back the curtain on CCSD performing arts and hear how students and teachers turn rehearsals into confidence, community, and real-world skill. We talk about the long-term investment behind award-winning programs, plus the partnerships and classroom practices that help young artists thrive from middle school through high school. 

• Why CCSD performing arts success is built through leadership, family support, and sustained investment 
• National recognition for music and arts programs and what it signals about consistency and access 
• How The Smith Center partnership expands arts integration, student experiences, and musical theater pathways 
• Teacher journeys from performance to education and how staying on stage strengthens instruction 
• What students say they gain from choir and theater including joy, safety, and growth through challenge 
• Why arts participation supports academics and builds durable skills like collaboration and communication 
• Practical examples of theater connecting to ELA, math, science, and social studies 
• Favorite pre-show hype songs and how performers manage nerves 

So the next time you see a flyer for a local middle school or high school concert, a play, or a dance recital, go buy a ticket.

Transcript

Evening Of Excellence Shout-Out

SPEAKER_03 0:01

Before we begin our episode dedicated to CCSD's long history of success in the performing arts, I wanted to touch briefly on the fourth annual celebration of the hardworking staff driving us toward becoming a destination district. The evening of excellence was held on Monday, March 23rd at the MGM Grand Car Theater. As superintendent of CCSD, I have the privilege of observing the incredible work happening across our schools and the staff who help make things happen day in and day out. The commitment of our educators to serve our students goes far. I see it in classrooms and on our campuses every single day. I see it out in the field with our bus drivers, with food service. All of our entire organization is ready for the destination. Congratulations to our finalists and our winners. It was my honor to celebrate with you at the 2026 Evening of Excellence. A heartfelt thank you to our title sponsor, Silver State Schools Credit Union. I want to also thank our champion sponsors, NV Energy, Harmony Academy National University, Penta Building Group, and the Las Vegas Raiders. And a special thanks to MGM Resorts International and Cirque du Soleil for hosting the event.

Why Performing Arts Matter Here

SPEAKER_03 1:21

Music Theater Dance. For decades, the Clark County School District has kept the performing arts alive and thriving here in Southern Nevada. But what is it like inside the rehearsal room every day? In this episode, we're pulling back the curtain to hear directly from the passionate teachers and talented students bringing these programs to life. I'm Superintendent Joan Ebert, and this is the Destination District Podcast. Hello and welcome to Destination District, the podcast where we explore the voices and visions shaping the future of the Clark County School District. Here in Las Vegas, we live in the entertainment capital of the world, where spectacular shows light up the strip every single night. But long before those performers step under the neon lights, their passion and skills are often ignited right here in our local classrooms. Today, we're exploring how the Clark County School District's performing arts programs serve as the ultimate training ground for the next generation of creative talent. Join us as we discover how the true magic of the stage begins long before the marquee ever turns on. Joining me today to discuss what it means to participate in CCSD Performing Arts are Jeff Williams, Director, Fine and Performing Arts Department, Curriculum and Instruction Division, Tobias Torres, Department Chair for Visual and Performing Arts at Coronado High School, Olivia Almaui, a junior at Coronado High School, Athena Murtis, Choir Director at Thurman White Academy of the Performing Arts, and Ballad Mason, an eighth grade choir student at Thurman White Academy of the Performing Arts. Thank you all for being here today. Are you ready, Jeff?

SPEAKER_02 3:07

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

Okay, let's do

The Secret Ingredients Behind Success

SPEAKER_03 3:09

it. Jeff, let's have you give some background to the history of performing arts in the Clark County School District.

SPEAKER_02 3:16

Well, thank you for the invitation to be here. It's terrific to talk about my very favorite topic, our phenomenal performing arts programs and visual arts programs here in the Clark County School District. I think it's common, if not just natural, to assume that living here in our cultural hub, our really the center of creative arts in our country, Las Vegas, that we would just naturally, if not spontaneously, have great performing arts and visual arts programs here in our schools. But the truth is that's not the case at all. The great fine arts programs that we have here are certainly not a natural outgrowth. They're not expected and completely uncommon in our country, something very rare and precious. And if I were to identify the secret ingredients that make all of this possible, it certainly starts with it really two aspects. First is the recognition that arts is so powerful for our students, for their learning and for their lives. And the first ingredient would really be that our our district leadership and our school board of trustees recognizes that, as well as our families and our community, they completely understand the value that the arts have that bring to their students' lives. And the second ingredient is that we've done the work. We've made the difficult decisions and made the investments to make these programs possible. And not just possible, but continuing these programs in a way that they can grow and continue to develop for the future. I think it's important to recognize that as educators, especially in modern times, we seek to measure absolutely every aspect of student learning in the classroom. And while that's a very important part of improving instruction and reaching every student, much of the learning, many of the skills that our students are learning, the powerful, lifelong skills that they learn in the creative and performing arts, they're very difficult to measure through those traditional, even standardized means. And because of that, many communities in the United States have lost sight of those tremendous benefits of great arts education and allowed those programs to founder. And we are just so incredibly grateful that our district leadership, our families, our teachers, our site-based administrators have all done the work to continue and allow these programs to continue growing. My wife and I almost 30 years ago now came to Nevada purposefully. We wanted to move to a community that that valued the arts, and we certainly wanted to raise a family where our kids could go to schools where the arts were an important part of their growth and learning. And it truly was the best decision we could have ever made.

SPEAKER_03 5:36

Well, I'm glad you made that decision.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

As are we.

SPEAKER_03 5:39

Yes, yes, 30 years ago. When you think about all of the, you were just talking about measuring, and you know, part of it is the process, right? Getting up on stage for students, the first time singing all of those components with the great work that our students do. I was excited as we were prepping for this show just now. I heard about an invitation for some of our guests today that are going to be performing in New York. I would say that is

Awards And The Smith Center Partnership

SPEAKER_03 6:07

a measurement. Do we have other accolades for our fine and performing arts that we can lift up?

SPEAKER_02 6:13

Oh, yes, absolutely. And congratulations. You'll hear more about this in a few moments from our choir that's here. Yes, our district has been rewarded numerous times, earned many awards for excellence in fine and performing arts. Most notably, the National Association of Music Merchants has recognized the Clark County School District as a best community for music education in our country 26 consecutive years. That's that's everything. That's a big drum roll. It certainly is. We've earned that recognition every single year that that award has been presented. So we're extremely proud of that. And it's just one of many awards earned by visual arts and all of our performing arts on a national level. We have Grammy signature schools, award-winning teachers in every content area. And then when we consider our students and the accolades and honors and awards that they've earned, the success that they've earned, after using our classrooms as a springboard in the arts, it's it's astounding. It's even inspiring. In fact, just this last year at the Jimmy Awards in New York, these are the National Musical Theater Awards, uh, one of our one of our very own students, Chris Hayes, earned Best Actor in the Country. And again, just one indicator of the amazing work that's happening in our classrooms throughout the district every day.

SPEAKER_03 7:23

Yeah, I was blessed to see Chris perform a few times now. And again, living in New York for a while, I I was able to participate. And I just watched him the very first time and said, oh my gosh, he is better than some that I've seen on Broadway.

SPEAKER_02 7:37

He is truly phenomenal.

SPEAKER_03 7:39

Amazing. So mentioning Fine and Performing Arts, one of our big partners I don't want to leave out, and that is specifically a person, and then also our the theater, and that is Myron Martin. He has led the Smith Center since the beginning, and I've heard his stories about the Mohair, you know, theater seats and all of those pieces. How is our partnership with the Smith Center?

SPEAKER_02 8:07

The partnership is just truly phenomenal. It's a great example of what's possible between community and school partnerships. The Smith Center is so much more than a world-class performing arts center. It's truly the hub of the arts in our city, and that's been their goal since they opened. The Smith Center supports both students and teachers throughout our community. Through the partners in education of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Initiative. Teachers of all subjects and grade levels are provided professional development focused on arts integration strategies, and they receive this from nationally recognized and local teaching artists. The Smith Center is also the lead organization for the Any Given Child program of the Kennedy Center. And they provide in-school performances, matinee performances, and even residences for artists and students to engage in in a variety of art forms. And the Smith Center partners with Disney Theatrical Group to support schools launching musical theater programs throughout through Disney Music Musicals and Schools initiative. And I mentioned previously Chris Hayes, who won Best Actor at last year's Jimmy Awards. Well, Chris's journey to New York began at the Smith Center as part of the Nevada High School Musical Theater Awards, also, of course, sponsored by the Smith Center. Again, it's just a tremendous partnership, and we're so grateful for all that the Smith Center does for the arts in our community and especially in our schools, and we we look forward to a long future working with them.

SPEAKER_03 9:22

Yes, it's amazing to walk into that theater and see our children on the stage. So let's turn to the educators with us today, shall we? Yes,

How Teachers Find The Stage

SPEAKER_03 9:30

okay. Tobias Athena, I'm sure your passions for theater and choir started way before you started teaching in the Clark County School District. So, Tobias, I'm gonna start with you. Tell me a little bit about your background and how you saw theater as a path to becoming an educator.

SPEAKER_01 9:46

Sure. So I am pleased to say that I am a product of the Nevada public education system from elementary school all the way to graduate school. I attended high school in northern Nevada where I was heavily involved in my high school's theater program, where I performed in most of the plays and musicals there. I earned my undergraduate degree in musical theater up in northern Nevada as well. Some of my favorite memories were performing musicals for my college. I immediately moved to Los Angeles, where I worked on several projects related to TV, film, and some commercial work. Then I went back to school here in southern Nevada and earned my teaching credential in both elementary education and secondary education. During that time, I was able to perform in some local productions here in the Las Vegas Valley. Now, as a teacher, I still try to perform in shows during the summer because it allows me to see things from the perspective of my students, like the challenges of an actor and what goes through your head when you're on stage. And with that lens, it helps me strengthen my view as an educator to see what my students need best so I can serve them better. And I know Athena still performs as well. Her and I, I hope one day we get to do a show together. So that's kind of my experience in theater up until this point.

SPEAKER_03 10:54

Can you share some of the shows that you've been in here?

SPEAKER_01 10:56

Here in Las Vegas Valley, I've done a couple shows at Super Summer Theater. So I was in Matilda and I also was in Mary Poppins. Those are the most recent shows I did.

SPEAKER_03 11:04

Great. Anything this summer that we should look forward to and we all start buying tickets for?

SPEAKER_01 11:09

Nothing yet, but I'll keep you updated.

SPEAKER_03 11:11

Okay, please, please do. I'm sure our audience would love to know. Athena, how did you find your love?

SPEAKER_05 11:17

So I have always been passionate about music since I was young. I've always been singing, playing the piano, playing the guitar. I don't come from an incredible musical family, but music was somewhat present, but I always just felt like it was my thing. I sang in church choirs. I started directing the church choir, uh, the youth choir when I was 16. And then when I was 18, they asked me to direct the adult choir, which was very 18 years old. When I was 18, so my goodness. This was very intimidating because I was still a kid and I didn't even know what I was doing. But these people just listened to me and they were so respectful and they wanted to come together and sing, and they did whatever I asked, and I was so inspired by them wanting to come together that I just fell in love with teaching. I've always loved teaching. So I am actually a product of the Clark County School District. I did all of my schooling here in Las Vegas.

SPEAKER_03 12:04

So I decided to Now you have to name your high school. Sorry to interrupt you. Which high school?

SPEAKER_05 12:08

Well, I I actually went to a few. I finished at CSN High School. So it was then called Community College High School. I wanted to just start the next chapter of my life, and I got a bunch of college courses out of the way. And that's actually how I decided to major in music because I could take music classes early while I was still in high school. So the combination of being able to direct, acquire, and learn all the music theory that I needed to know just kind of solidified that that's what I wanted to do. So I went to UNLE and did my bachelor's in music education and then decided to go farther because I fell in love with performing and opera. And so I then I did my master's in vocal performance. And I thought, well, I can stay in town and I can perform and I can teach and I can have the best of both worlds.

SPEAKER_03 12:50

Oh my goodness. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that that story. All right. So tell me something about when you, both of you, either of you, when you're working with your students and they are when you see how they grow and work through their performing arts, what brings you the most joy?

SPEAKER_05 13:11

Well, I think ultimately it's seeing their success on the stage and then seeing them after the performance and really seeing how much joy that brings to them and how much gratification they get. The journey with them is sometimes difficult. I I mean I I teach middle school. It's it can be a difficult age. I love it. But helping them find that grit to be able to get through the rehearsal process and that and find that delayed gratification within the performance. I think right now we're a generation of instant gratification. And so teaching students to really persevere through all of the difficult work in learning all the muscle memory and the technique and the notes and the theory and everything to get to that final performance and then having them be successful on stage and talk about it afterwards, that's really the highlight for me and really what I find joy in.

SPEAKER_03 14:00

Sobias, I'm gonna ask you something about the colleagues at Coronado.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 14:05

Do you ever hear from your colleagues about your students or students that are shared between teachers? Do they acknowledge do any of your students get up and just burst out in theater in other classrooms because they're so happy? Or how how do you work with your colleagues?

SPEAKER_01 14:22

Yeah, well, I think one of the nice things at Coronado is a lot of our students are interdisciplinary, so they will take theater and choir or theater and orchestra or theater and band. But on a broader scale, if it's just sports or cheer or dance, the nice thing at Coronado is that we really emphasize being able to be flexible and work. We want our students to be well-rounded, so we are always able to work with their schedules. So we have students that are in like theater and football or choir and theater or theater and dance. And so the nice thing is because we work so well together as colleagues and with certain schedules, because we want the student to be well-rounded, we're able to talk about the students because we share so many students and we're able to see their growth in one discipline over another. And that I think is really cool and one of the reasons why I love working at Coronado.

SPEAKER_03 15:07

I love well-rounded students. So let's turn to our students, Olivia and Ballad. It's

Students On Growth And Big Trips

SPEAKER_03 15:14

an amazing time. We've heard from Jeff and the teachers here with us. Tell me a little bit about the programs that you're in and what's going on at school.

SPEAKER_04 15:22

So I'm in the theater and choir program at Coronado. Like Mr. Torres said, both programs are very integrated. A lot of choir students are in theater. So we really work together a lot. These programs are really good. They always put a lot of effort and focus on details. And one of the reasons why I want to come to Coronado is because of how good their programs were. Yeah, I get to learn a lot about different aspects of theater and choir.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

Did you just start in high school when you were going to be a freshman and you were looking at Coronado as a possibility? Did it when did it start? Did you start when you were five years old? You already knew that I wanted to be involved in choir or theater, Olivia. What do you think?

SPEAKER_04 16:07

I started when I was three years old. Oh my goodness. Yeah, it was a place called Dance Zone. They had this theater program. I was a flower in Alice in Wonderland. So yeah, I've been doing theater and then I went to Broadway Kids for a couple years. And then I did some community productions for a while before coming to Coronado. It's actually pretty funny. Torres and I were in the production together before I came to Coronado. We were in Matilda.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

Oh my goodness. That's wonderful. That is wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 16:33

Ballad, what do you think? So I am in Thurman White's Advanced Choir and Vocal Workshop. Vocal Workshop is one of the electives for choir. It's a soloist class. About Advanced Choir, I would like to say I am so honored to be able to go to New York and perform at Carnegie Hall. That's already one of the most amazing opportunities for me as a middle schooler in eighth grade. And I definitely think that Advanced Choir has given me a lot of opportunities to definitely pursue my career as a musician a lot more. If performing arts were not in school, I definitely think that school, like, I feel like I wouldn't be able, like I wouldn't know as much music theory as I do now, and I wouldn't have become like I've made this much progress as a musician as I have now.

SPEAKER_03 17:19

People wait their entire life to be in the theater, to be in Carnegie Hall, and you are going to perform on stage. Congratulations.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03 17:30

I can't wait to hear how it went. And I actually are they streaming that? Are they gonna stream? Is there any live portion of it that Southern Nevadaans can watch?

SPEAKER_05 17:39

They're only allowed to video small portions of it. So we'll get like clips and then we can post those.

SPEAKER_03 17:44

Okay, great. Look forward to the posting. So tell me about your teachers. I know they're here in the room. How do they work with you on a daily basis, weekly basis, and guiding? How is instruction in the classroom? You have fun. Mr.

SPEAKER_04 17:59

Torres loves to teach us a lot of different aspects about theater. Like sometimes there'll be improv. One time it was puppeting, which was puppetry, which was really cool. He encourages us to be on stage. He's very technical. He takes us on all these amazing field trips to like LA and New York. We're going to Disney in a couple weeks. Nice. And we're gonna have workshops and talk with people, and it just helps improve our acting abilities a lot. And I also want to give a shout-out to my choir teacher, Mr. Fleischer. He also works very technically. He is very encouraging and fun with the students. He also gives us all these amazing opportunities. He takes us to sing at FLM. We sing at the tree lighting on Water Street, we sing at the school. It's really amazing. Also, the way they work together to produce perfor plays and performances is amazing. And they're amazing teachers.

SPEAKER_03 18:51

So you recommend it to everyone that is interested to come and be in their classrooms.

SPEAKER_04 18:57

Yes. It's a great environment. I've had the time of my life there, and it it just made me love theater and choir a lot more.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

Ballad. I totally agree with Olivia. Choir for me is such like a safe and like flowing, like overflowing with joy. It's such a great environment for me. And Miss Murdez always gives me the best opportunities, and so does choir to uh go to certain trips and like perform at certain events and actually do what I love to do. And like as a musician. I will say, like Miss Murdez, she's very patient with all of her choirs and her elective classes. And as she said, there is like the journey through the process of learning everything, like our choir music or like going through units throughout school. And sometimes it can be difficult, sometimes it can be easy, but no matter what, it's always so fun, especially getting the result and feeling grateful that you were able to perform and go on trips and do all these amazing things for choir.

SPEAKER_03 20:01

Great.

Research On Arts And Learning

SPEAKER_03 20:02

Jeff, I'm gonna turn back to you for a moment if we if we may. Is that okay? Absolutely. Great. So, you know, when we think about the core academics and people are always learning more about literacy and brain theory. We have changes in mathematics with the different technology that becomes available at the time. What are the forward-thinking components with performing arts?

SPEAKER_02 20:27

That's a terrific question. And it seems every time we research student learning in the performing arts, we learn more about the the broad-based effects that it has in every area. Our students who are active in the arts perform better in reading, they perform better in math in really all areas, and that that's been supported endlessly in research. And like I said, every time we we look at it, we find a new way that the arts helps support learning in all areas. It has value, of course, in itself, but it makes our students even better learners across the spectrum and everything that they do. Just this last this last year in 2025, MIT sought to identify really what benefits coding programs have for students. And they put together a broad-based research project and looked into everything that students were doing over the long term and how it affected them in coding programs. And miraculously they came back and said, you know, coding is wonderful for kids, but it it doesn't really hold the same power that performing arts, in this case specifically, it was music holds for kids. When kids are active in in music and theater and dance and visual arts, it changes the way their brain works, changes the way they conceive of problems. And it also teaches so many 21st century skills that that are that we know are going to be critical no matter how the technological landscape changes, no matter how the job market changes. We know that we want students that are able to collaborate, students that are able to communicate well, take direction, strive for perfection. And those are critical. And performing arts teaches those, our students learn those better in performing arts than really anywhere else that we've seen.

SPEAKER_03 21:54

Those are our durable skills in the Nevada portrait of a learner.

SPEAKER_02 21:57

They certainly are.

SPEAKER_03 21:58

That's awesome. So, Tobias and Athena, you are professionals here in the city. Are there things that as you go and experience, you mentioned Tobias earlier, some of the experiences that you have as well. Are there things that are happening out in the workforce in your specific areas that we should be bringing into our Clark County School District classrooms? Practices or technology. I talked about CA during our opening, and I I had not seen CA until we uh celebrated our staff there. And just the stage itself is phenomenal. So are there other things that are happening in theater choir that breaking news for us?

SPEAKER_05 22:43

So I think there's a lot of skills that students need to have that performing arts really teach. And these are skills that if a student wants to become a musician or a performer, when they go out into the performing world, they need to show up to the first rehearsal with their music learned and have a lot of accountability so that they know what they're doing and they're prepared for whatever job that they're about to take on. And I think there's important lessons there, like on procrastination. Procrastination is a huge hurdle with students. I guess it's with adults too sometimes. But in the performing arts world, you can't procrastinate

Workforce Skills And Real-World Connections

SPEAKER_05 23:20

anything. If you are given a score and you're asked to learn your part or a script and you're asked to memorize your lines before the first rehearsal, you can't procrastinate that. You might be able to procrastinate writing an essay for your English class or cramming for a math test, but you really, in the performing arts world, there's accountability and you have to take time and you have to be able to plan ahead and see ahead to know what it is that you need to accomplish and how much time you have to accomplish that to really get it into your muscle memory and learn the technique and master it. So there's a lot of important life skills that performing arts teach in the performing world, but also beyond, just in the professional world, that accountability and that preparation.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

So I was going to say the same thing and build off what Athena said in the sense that performing arts from theater, band, choir, orchestra has the ability to sharpen and enhance student skills in other areas, whether that's real world application or in other courses. I mentioned how, and I always mention this at the beginning of Open House every year, that theater is interdisciplinary and sometimes students don't really know it because they're so passionate for theater or choir. But for example, in English language arts, we have reading, writing, speaking, listening standards. And in theater, you read a script, you write notes and annotations, you speak to other actors, and you have to listen to other actors how and how to respond authentically. And that's ELA, they just don't know it. With math, if you are in a theater tech class and you're building a staircase for an upcoming theater production, you're calculating rise over run to determine individual step dimensions, and that's coordinate geometry in its practical form. The tech students just don't know they're doing geometry right away, or they're more invested in it because there's real-world application. Science is the same thing in theater tech. The entire study of audio engineering and working with microphones and soundboards and understanding how sound waves work, that's all science. With social studies, a lot of our plays take place in different time periods, and it forces you to research time periods for accurate portrayals. And again, the students don't necessarily realize in the moment that they're learning about history, but in a way that they are. And kind of to build off Mr. Williams, one of I think the most important skills that theater band choir orchestra mariachi teaches is communication. Because I think that in a world where there is a need for learning how to communicate your ideas that are in your head and how to advocate for yourself, I think that choir theater does a really good job with teaching our students how to find their voice and use their voice and develop their passion and being able to say what's going on in here here.

SPEAKER_03 25:45

Yeah, that's wonderful. Just yesterday, I was at Fremont Middle School and the mariachi, the mariachi band was so amazing. We had the WWE wrestlers there. They had asked for the students to play a specific uh song, and they did, and the wrestlers were singing right along with the music being played by our students. And so you can see their background of love of performance, the art, singing. It was it was wonderful. So I have one more question for the students.

Hype Songs Plus Final Takeaways

SPEAKER_03 26:19

Are you ready? Here we go. What is your ultimate hype song before a performance?

SPEAKER_05 26:26

That's a hard one.

SPEAKER_03 26:28

Well, you know what? You think about it. I'll ask what's your I'll ask our teachers and Jeff your what's your what's your hype song before you go on to perform?

SPEAKER_05 26:36

Eye of the Tiger.

SPEAKER_03 26:37

I love it.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

That's actually the same song that I have. Maybe it's just yeah, Eye of the Tiger.

SPEAKER_00 26:43

Okay, great.

SPEAKER_01 26:44

We will rock you definitely.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

I will be honest. I don't really have a specific song. It's usually just like I'll either practice the song that I'm about to sing for the performance, or I'll just randomly freestyle music that I've been currently listening to that I like. Like, for example, I'll listen to a Bruno Mars song, I'll start to like it for a few weeks, and then like backstage before I'm walking on, I'll just kinda do some riffs during that song and I'll sing it and then I'll go on. Great.

SPEAKER_04 27:10

For me, so I have hype songs, and I also sometimes don't use hype songs, sometimes I use songs to calm me down because I get nervy nervous. When everyone gets hyped, I usually listen to Queen. We will rock you, Killer Queen. I love their music. Or whenever I want to calm down, just stop the stage fear. I listen to Jose. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

I like Roar too by Kitty Perry. I don't know what it is about tigers, but because Roar is kind of that same hype.

SPEAKER_03 27:37

You're getting ready to roar out on that stage. Like, bring it on. Ballad, Athena, Olivia, Tobias, Jeff. Thank you for being on Destination District today. It was wonderful to hear your voice, learn more about each of you as individuals. And I can't wait to see who you become and what you do in the future. You've accomplished quite a bit already. So thank you all for being here. And that's a wrap on today's episode. A massive thank you to Jeff Williams, Director, Fine and Performing Arts Department, Curriculum and Instruction Division, Tobias Torres, Department Chair for Visual and Performing Arts at Coronado High School, Olivia Almawi, a junior at Coronado High School, and Athena Murtis, choir director at Thurman White Academy of the Performing Arts. And last but not least, Ballad Mason, eighth grade choir student at Thurman White Academy for the Performing Arts. As we've heard, the Performing Arts are about so much more than just putting on a good show. They're about building confidence, fostering community, and shaping the future leaders of Las Vegas. So the next time you see a flyer for a local middle school or high school concert, a play, or a dance recital, go buy a ticket. You just might be watching the next big star on the strip before they make it big. This has been Destination District, a CCSD podcast recorded at the Vegas PBS Podcasting Studio. Remember, the destination is better when we get there together. Have a great day.