Halle Parkway  

I’ve lived on Halle Parkway in Halle Plantation for over six years with my parents and older twin brothers Connor and Cooper who are now in college.  I’m a senior at Collierville High School where I am involved in several clubs, including the National Honor Society, Rho Kappa (Social Studies Honor Society), and National Art Honor Society, and I am a member of DECA.  I’m also on the CHS Robotics Team and the CHS Rock Climbing Team.  I have a big passion for animals and love my job at Dogtopia caring for dogs.

Last spring, I was honored to be a finalist in the Memphis Airport Art Competition.  There were over three hundred entries from area schools and only thirty finalists were chosen to be displayed in the airport.  My painting, “The Stars of Peabody,” hangs in Concourse A until May 2022.  My original 11 x 14-inch “sketchbook” submission took me only a few hours to sketch and paint.  However, the final piece, which was required to be repainted on a 4x6-foot canvas took me over a month to complete.  I hadn’t realized that once selected as a finalist, the small sketchbook piece had to be repainted onto a larger canvas to hang in the airport.  The final larger painting was a bit more stressful to create!

I’ve taken art classes every year in both middle and high school.  But, what has taken my skills to a new level is that I take private art classes with Mrs. Neeley in Germantown.  She is an inspiration and has taught me so many art techniques.  I guess I began to realize I had some talent when I won my first art competition in fifth grade in Raleigh, NC.  My piece, “Clock Tree,” won third place in the Raleigh area-wide PTA Reflections contest.  In eighth grade, I placed fourth in the statewide National Junior Beta Club competition in Nashville with my portrait painting of my dog Boomer.  That piece also won first place in the Schilling Farms Middle School Art show that same year.  I also like to make art for my family and friends so they can enjoy them too.  In college I plan to major in graphic design and maybe art, possibly using my art skills to design product packaging.