{"id":12457,"date":"2019-12-11T23:06:21","date_gmt":"2019-12-11T23:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=12457"},"modified":"2019-12-11T23:06:21","modified_gmt":"2019-12-11T23:06:21","slug":"samantha-white","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/11\/samantha-white\/","title":{"rendered":"SAMANTHA WHITE"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coloring academics with the arts<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Eric Valentine<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
WRHS senior Samantha White. Photo credit: Kirsten Shultz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When you ask educators why the arts are as important to offer students as math and science, there are a variety of viable answers that range from the importance of creativity to the rigor and discipline students receive from perfecting a craft. Another perfectly good explanation would be the example of Wood River High School senior Samantha White.<\/p>\n

White is in her seventh year of dancing with Footlight Dance Centre and now in the senior company of that Ketchum-based professional conservatory where she dances ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop and modern. She is also a member of the Colla Voce choir program and the WRHS drama team. It\u2019s all a backdrop to how White forms her worldview.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wish people would stop responding to hate with more hate. It only creates a never-ending cycle,\u201d observes White. \u201cAnd even if you are standing up for something you believe in, if you are doing it with hate, then you are just as bad as the person you are fighting against.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perspective like that often comes from people who have spent time studying and practicing the arts, many educators say. But that doesn\u2019t mean White isn\u2019t equally focused on academic rigor. The 3.9-GPA student is currently taking A.P. Government, A.P. Literature and calculus, along with her arts courses.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople often tell me that I have too much on my plate,\u201d White admits.<\/p>\n

Also on her plate is an annual community service project with Footlight Dance where the company tours all of the Blaine County schools and performs a 45-minute informational show.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an amazing opportunity every year for me to get involved with the kids in elementary school who want to become dancers when they are older,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n

After high school, White plans on attending Portland State University or Seattle University and studying for an accounting degree\u2014yes, an accounting degree. She also wants to participate in the Disney College Program and spend a few months as an intern for Disney in Florida. Her well-rounded approach is not without aim.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to own a company that works with low-income families and helps them save money,\u201d White explains. \u201cMost low-income families can\u2019t afford financial planners and I want to be able to help them deal with money and create budgets that are realistic for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

White, whose parents met when her mom\u2019s car got stuck in the snow and her dad was there to help, is a lifelong resident of the Wood River Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I move, I think I am going to miss the people most. I have so many amazing people in this Valley, and even as a senior I continue to meet more,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coloring academics with the arts By Eric Valentine When you ask educators why the arts are as important to offer students as math and science, there are a variety of viable answers that range from the importance of creativity to the rigor and discipline students receive from perfecting a craft. Another perfectly good explanation would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sponsored","category-student-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}