Yuma Union High School District gala spotlights student artists and crews

The brightest work at Yuma Union High School District’s annual Mastery of the Arts Program gala came from students who were not only performing, but also running the room. Visual art lined the Snider Hall breezeway on the Yuma High School campus, then the program moved to Taylor Dean McBride Auditorium for a live performance that put student artists, emcees and technical crews at the center of the night.

The district scheduled the gala for Tuesday, May 12, 2026, with the art show starting at 4:30 p.m. and the performance beginning at 6 p.m. MAP is open to students across the district, and its course list includes theater technology, musical theater, show choir and dance choreography. In theater technology, students learn lighting and sound technology, skills that were on display as the gala unfolded.

Program Executive Director Lauren Spurlock said the event was essentially a student-run production, with theater technology students handling lights, sound and backstage movement. That setup gave the gala a practical edge beyond the applause. Students were not just showing finished work; they were learning how to stage it, cue it and deliver it in front of a live audience.

The program also broadened the circle around the students. MAP works with community artists and educators, giving Yuma High School students access to adults who can help shape both technique and confidence. Chloe-Marie Keim said MAP helped her grow as an artist, a sign that the program is doing more than filling a calendar slot. It is helping students build the kind of creative discipline that carries into college auditions, production work and other arts pathways.

That progression matters in a district serving students in grades nine through 12, where the arts can become a visible route to leadership as well as expression. Last year’s MAP gala featured nine classes taught by a resident artist working with certified teacher Jillian Van Horn, underscoring the program’s hybrid model of professional artistic guidance and classroom instruction. This year’s addition of podcasting-class student emcees showed the program widening its scope again, giving students public-facing roles as well as technical ones.

For Yuma Union High School District, the gala was not just a showcase for one night. It was a demonstration that creative talent can be turned into measurable school experience, from lighting boards and sound cues to stage presence and live emceeing, all inside the district’s own classrooms and performance spaces.