Last Thursday night, OneMaize Media held the first ever all-district talent show, The A-Maizing Talent show, at the Maize Performing Arts and Aquatic Center. 

OneMaize Media came up with the event last December to bring together the community, fundraise to help with their programs’ expenses, and give back to those clubs, organizations, sports teams and groups who support student media at the Maize Career Academy.

The students in the Converged Media class were brainstorming ideas right before winter break for fundraising based around the concept of a community event.

The talent show welcomed all students in the district to audition, and there were a total of 27 students that auditioned from a variety of schools, and 19 competitors were actually selected for the show.

The competitors included students Katie Morales, Julia McColm, Lana Aronis, Ceridwen Martin, Kylie Powell, Keira Howell, Ivy Sailing, Ammon Sigler, Micah Gifford, Adyson Cooper, Emma Dugan, Garrett Gassmann, Sophie Achey, Anka Hurt, Reese Willbanks, Abigail Grantham, Reese Beagley, Caleb Manuel, Megan Vogts, and Maryana Lotspeich.

Maize South senior Caleb Manuel was accepted to perform in the talent show. He chose to participate in the talent show because performing is one of his many loves in this world.

“I sang ‘The Dream Synopsis” by The Last Shadow Puppets. It’s a song that I resonate with, and I find those to be the best when I give it my all,” Manuel said.

OneMaize Media Advisors Spencer O’Daniel and Jodee Johnson  helped the programs’ students make the talent show happen with months of planning and preparation that included tryouts, finding sponsors, getting music from the performers and getting ready for event night.

Johnson loved the opportunity to be able to be exposed to all kinds of different talented students throughout the district.

“I loved seeing the grade school students audition for the show, they are so cute, and then they get up there and do their thing and blow you away with their talent,” Johnson said. 

Maize High junior Emma Dugan also agreed that having the elementary students compete was a great idea for the talent show.

“I feel it was such a great opportunity for elementary schoolers to perform. It gives them a chance to show off their talents and show our district what great students we have at such a young age,” Dugan said.

In the K-4 division, Ivy Sailing took first place, Lana Aronis earned second place, and Katie Morales and Julia McColm earned third place.

In the smaller 5-8 division, singer Oliver Anderson earned first place and Keira Howell received second place. Megan Vogts took third place for the division.

The high school winners were Emma Dugan who grabbed first place overall, Abigail Grantham who earned second place and finally Caleb Manuel who won third place.

Dugan was the highest scorer among the judges in the 9-12 school division. She expressed how grateful she was to win among the other talented competitors from both Maize High and Maize South.

“I was so surprised that I won because of all the wonderful talents that were showcased in the talent show including kindergarteners all the way to high school seniors, but everyone deserved to win because of all of the phenomenal talents,” Dugan said.

Adviser Spencer O’Daniel is incredibly proud of the OneMaize Media team for their efforts and the impact they made on the kids and community.

“I was so impressed with how our group worked with the talent, handled their jobs, and were just incredibly nice to our judges, those in the community, and everyone involved in the show. [I am a] proud adviser and I hope we can [be] bigger [and] better and [have] more people from Maize attending next year!” O’Daniel said.