![Students in the National Art Honor Society work on the Mount Hood mural on the window of SouthLake Church. The students brought a variety of paints and mixed their own custom colors. “Instead of brushstrokes, we’re doing more dabbing, because it gives [a] better impression of tree foliage, rather than looking like actual brush strokes, because if we’re painting trees, we need it to look like trees,” Crawford said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_2397-1200x900.jpg)
![Main Street said farewell to summer on Aug. 30 through the second annual Chalk Walk Art Festival. Ruth Offer, Chalk Walk organizer, brought this tradition from Wyoming in an attempt to make use of the renovated sidewalks of Willamette Falls Dr. “[This is] a community event for the kids,” Offer said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/image-12-1200x803.png)
Getting into character
Sophia Burden performs at Oregon’s Regional Acting Competition and prepares for state
Sophia Burden, junior, performs as Mrs. Wormwood in a dress rehearsal for the 2022 fall musical Matilda.
Competition season has arrived for students involved in the theater department, with student actors recently having the opportunity to compete at Oregon’s Regional Acting Competition, which acts as a qualifying competition for the State Acting Showcase.
The Regional Acting Competition is one of the largest theater competitions in the state and performers compete in numerous categories, including different types of acting and musical theater. Sophia Burden, junior, attended the Regional Acting Competition and performed in both solo and group acting, and musical theater categories.
“My favorite [category] is solo musical,” Burden said. “Mostly because I’ve been acting and doing performance for so long and I’ve always done musical theater, so it just hits home for me.”
She has attended the competition three times, while her first experience was virtual due to COVID-19, both years she has attended since have been in-person and she has participated in the Regional Acting Competition all three years she has been eligible.
“I went last year when it was in-person again,” Burden said. “And then freshman year when it was online. That was a weird experience I just [have] to say.”
After a successful Regional Acting Competition, Burden has qualified for the state competition and will be competing again at Oregon’s State Acting Showcase, which will be held at Oregon’s State Acting Festival on April 13-15, 2023. The State Acting Festival is the signature event for thespians in Oregon and the highest level of in-state competition for student-actors.
For more information about Burden’s experience at the Regional Acting Competition and about her experiences in the theater department, listen to her appearance on the latest episode of the West Linn Weekly Wake Up, hosted by print editor-in-chief Audrey Lippert and web editor-in-chief Karina Rower.
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Audrey Lippert is a senior at West Linn High School. This is her fourth year taking journalism, and Lippert most enjoys writing current events articles,...
When she's not writing for wlhsNOW.com and the Amplifier, Karina Rower, senior, enjoys working to promote diversity with Affinity Club and volunteering...
Lily Gottschling, senior, is the Copy Editor-in-Chief for wlhsNOW.com. She loves writing reviews, features, and opinions. She is also a co-host of the...
