B2 - The Canadian Champion, Fridav. March 10. 2006 Drama students take their share of awards at festival A number of Milton students were recently recognized for their theatrical prowess at the annual Halton District Sears Drama Festival. E.C. Drury and Bishop Reding participated in the dis- trict level of the competition February 24 in Burlington. They were competing for a chance to advance to the regional finals and though neither of the local plays took that honour - that went to two high schools from Burlington and Oakville - a number of individuals received awards. Ryan Batty of Bishop Reding's What's Going on Behind the Curtain?' received an Award of Excellence for his narration, as did Julie Dransfield of E.C. Drury for her performance in 'The Effects of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds'. Awards of Merit for perform- ance went to E.C. Drury's Elissa Whitman and Lisa Brown. Awards of Merit also went to E.C. Drury's Sarah McCutcheon for her set painting work, to Adam Norrad-McLaughlin, Kelly Walter, Genevieve Hutchinson and Kym Baker, also of E.C. Drury, for their cho- reography and dance, and to Bishop Redings Madeline Arnold for her student direction as well as to her cast for ensem- ble work. This is the 60th anniversary of the popular student drama festival, which provides partici- pants with professional guid- ance through expert adjudica- tion and the opportunity to work with theatre professionals in special workshops. Took a different route • from LOCAL on page 81 to do. I've been involved in music all along, so I had all these years of things I wanted to say," Mandic said. As someone who started songwriting later in life, Mandic said he kept his dreams firmly planted in reality. "Because of my age, I knew I wouldn't be an artist who's played on the radio all the time," he said, adding his genre, folk/rock, isn't the most popular for radio. So he pursued licensing his musié for TV, playing in his spare time at open stage venues and attending folk festivals. With a recording studio in his home, watching TV isn't a popular pastime for Mandic. "If I had a choice between TV and guitar, it's guitar," he said. But he can't complain about the fact his song was featured on such a popular show "Its so, so exciting," he said. Stephanie Thiessen can be reached at sthiessen@miltoncana- dianchampion.com. - - - - - - - - - - - -