Performer of the year: Jenny Sims

Performer of the year: Jenny Sims

By Emily Valdez Posted June 9, 2022

Senior Jennifer Sims, most known by Jenny, is this year’s Performer of the Year. Sims has been a part of drama since the school year began and was in choir for about five and a half years. Sims played in two different plays during the year, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “Robin Hood”. 

Receiving the title of Performer of the Year means so much according to Sims.

“It means so much to me, I’ve always been kinda shy and an introvert,” said Sims. “I don’t talk to many people, so being able to perform on stage is like so out of my comfort zone and to be recognized as Performer of the Year is like something I’ve never imagined as something like a shy, quiet girl would achieve.”

Drama director, Kelly Bales, is also very proud of Sims for her behavior and skills on the stage. 

“She is an excellent actress no matter the role,” said Bales “She is very encouraging to the rest of the cast and crew; she helps move sets between scenes.”

Director Bales was also happy with Sim’s portrayal of Lady Merle.

“Her portrayal of the villain, Lady Merle, in Robin Hood was one of the best performances I’ve seen in any of the high school plays,” said Bales. “She is always one of the first to learn her lines and has a clear understanding of how to deliver those lines.”

Sims joined drama mostly because of her friends but also for her love of being dramatic and getting into character.

“I like being dramatic, but in all seriousness, I like expressing emotions of characters and so drama was a way for me to do that in like a safe environment and with people I enjoyed, so it seemed like the best choice,” said Sims. 

She also grew inspiration from the prior high school plays she watched, which helped her portray the characters she acted as.

“Watching the high school plays as I grew up, especially with the most recent play we did where I had to play a mean character, I based my acting a little bit on this girl I had watched years and years ago play this really evil villain, so I tried to incorporate her into my acting,” said Sims.

One of the things Sims enjoyed the most about going up on stage for Robin Hood was being able to surprise the audience.

“I loved being able to surprise people because I don’t think I’m that mean in real life, so for me to play this really mean, really loud character was so much fun for me to get into,” said Sims.

The most memorable memory from drama for Sims was spending time with peers on and off stage.

“I think it’s hanging out with some of the people from drama, even outside of drama I’ve grown to what I hope to be is friends with them, I don’t know if they feel the same,” said Sims. “They’ve been really kind to me and I know we hung out a little bit and had dinners together, so those memories are the most memorable to me, spending time with people I enjoy.”

Along with her peers from drama, Sim’s peers from choir are also important to her.

“There were a couple of people in there [choir] who just always made my day better when I would go into the classroom, especially with like, we’ve had three different teachers over the past four years,” said Sims. “So they helped make the class more stable, even when the teachers were changing, so the people and the singing that made me enjoy choir.”