PHUHS Teens Shine in Competition

Three students proved to be shining stars in the 8th Annual Walker's Rising Stars Scholarship Competition held this week at .

Aubrey Cheek, Madeline Job, and James Tian were among 29 teen finalists who performed before a packed crowd Monday night. All three took home scholarship prizes. 

Madeline Job, a PHUH senior, won a $3,000 scholarship for placing 2nd in the Visual Arts Category. Job's entry in the competition was a narrated video featuring her artwork. She appeared unflappable backstage as she waited to walk onstage to take a bow after her video was shown, "Not nervous at all," she said.

Job says she's been creating art in since she was very young. She's already decided she'll be attending the University of Florida in the fall where she plans to study art and botany. 

PHUH senior, James Tian was honored with a $3,000 scholarship for his 2nd place win in the Instrumental Category. Tian performed Frederic Chopin's Fantasy Impromptu Opus 66 on the piano. 

"I was very nervous but the lucky thing was with my piece I get immersed in it, so once I got involved, it felt normal," he said. Tian has played piano since he was seven and plans a career as a doctor.

PHUH junior, Aubrey Cheek won 3rd place and a $2,000 scholarship in the Dance Category. Cheek was also one of six teens who received $100 gift cards as a prize for winning "Fan Favorite" in a website voting competition.

Cheek has been dancing since she was 3 and was thrilled to be able to perform at Ruth Eckerd, "It feels exhilarating, it's just amazing coming out and seeing all those people and knowing I'm making other people happy by sharing my love of dance."

Lori Hempfling, Marketing Manager for Ruth Eckerd Hall estimated attendance for the event at 1,800 which is only a few hundred people shy of a packed house. Hempfling says the scholarships are nice for the teens, but the opportunity to perform onstage in front of such a large audience may be a bigger deal.

"I really think if you ask the kids, being on stage is what meant the most to them," she said.

For the full list of scholarship winners, click here.

If you missed the performances at Ruth Eckerd, you can watch special broadcasts of the show produced by Pinellas County School District's WPDS-Ch.14. The broadcast times are at 8pm on Tuesday June 14 & 21, Saturday June 18 & 25, and Sunday June 19 & 26. Check your local cable listings for WPDS-Ch.14.