Daniels named Fine Arts Student of the Month

Emmy Daniels loves to create beautiful music.

That’s why she loves chorus.

“It is an opportunity to come together and create beautiful music with others,” the St. Joseph-Ogden High School senior said.

Daniels, who is the January Fine Arts Student of the Month, represented SJO at the District 3 Honors Choir and was selected to advance to the All-State Chorus during the Illinois Music Education Conference, which was held Jan. 23-26 in Peoria.

Daniels, who has participated in numerous SJO drama productions in addition to choir, said that she enjoys fine arts because the arts shine a light on differences in gender, ethnicity, race, religion and socioeconomic status of the characters in the play or songs.

“Music and theatre transcend social barriers to tell stories and touch hearts, which is something I’m blessed to partake in,” Daniels said.

Daniels, who plans on attending Oklahoma City University and majoring in Music Theatre, said she enjoys performing with the people she considers family at SJO.

“It’s an environment where I get the chance to do what I love with the people I care about,” she said.

Daniels said it is important to her to act as a mentor to younger students in chorus or drama. Daniels, who was cast as Emily Webb in “Our Town” when she was a freshman, said some senior students bullied her after she was cast. She decided then and there that she would never let any other students feel the way she did during that time.

“I feel like this year’s senior class really made that effort to guide the freshmen,” she said. “It means lot to me that my involvement in SJO Fine Arts has had a positive impact.”