CMN high school students stage Showcase performance in Keshena

A free student showcase is set to bring Menominee families into the Menominee Nation High School Commons at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 24, giving local teens a public stage in Keshena and a rare chance for the community to gather around youth performance. The 20-minute program, titled Showcase, will feature short scenes drawn from full-length plays and productions, with students demonstrating what they have learned in both cast and crew roles.

The lineup includes Ashaylex Awonohopay, James Awonohopay, Harmony Doud, Cece Grignon, Sara Kelley, Taylesia Pamonicutt, Nevaeh Pecore, Givon Peters, Payton Pocan, Johnathan Sechrist, Christina Warrington, Levi Warrington, Kai Wayka, Kenzie Webster-Wayka, Dacey Webster and Christopher Wilber Jr. Admission will be free, though visitors are asked to arrive early and follow the school’s visitor policy.

The production is part of the College of Menominee Nation’s Learn & Earn program, which the college says is funded by a State of Wisconsin grant and is aimed at high school juniors and seniors. CMN says the program is designed to help students get a head start in college while building confidence for higher education, and coursework can count toward high school graduation requirements if a counselor approves it.

Through CMN’s Pathways program, which the college formed with the Menominee Indian School District, Learn & Earn participants enroll at CMN and take 3 credits of coursework per semester. Menominee Indian High School says it also partners with CMN, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and Northcentral Technical College for dual credits, widening the academic pipeline available to students in and around Keshena.

That makes the showcase more than a short performance. It places students in a setting where language, teamwork and public presentation matter, while also reinforcing CMN’s role as a land-grant institution chartered by the Menominee People. In a county where travel, access and opportunity can all be shaped by geography, a local event like this gives families a direct look at the kind of college and career preparation being built close to home.

CMN has used theater and pageant programming as a public-facing cultural education platform for years, including the revival of the Menominee Pageant in 2016. This summer’s Showcase continues that approach in a smaller format, but with the same purpose: to put Menominee youth in front of their own community and show what they can do.