Jupiter High School (JHS) has fostered an environment that results in students advancing their skills within different art fields such as visual arts, music or theater.

Many students at JHS have pursued their interest in art or music to a high extent. Their work has paid off, resulting in them being recognized in competitions, showcases, performances etc. JHS provides many opportunities for creatively inclined students, with a concert and marching band program, several arts and media classes and a multitude of clubs and extracurriculars.

“The marching band participates in regional competitions every year where we compete with neighboring marching bands,” Addison Daversa, a senior percussion, flute and trombone player in the Wind Symphony and the Spirit of Jupiter Marching Band at JHS, said. 

Daversa was selected for the Palm Beach Symphony side-by-side band for flute, nominated by band director Ryan Ross. This opportunity allowed her to be selected to perform with the symphony at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach. 

“I love performing at concerts. It’s a full circle moment every time the band plays a piece we’ve spent months learning, it brings a great sense of accomplishment,” Daversa said. 

The JHS marching band has had a successful streak the past few years, with the band winning either first, second or third place in the Florida Marching Band Championships (FMBC) competitions the past five years. 

“In marching band, we work a lot. We do a lot of extra stuff, we really just have to be committed,” Patricia Moynihan, senior, said.

Moynihan is a member of the JHS Wind Symphony, drum major in the marching band and plays the tuba.

Drum major is a position in a band that acts as a leader. The drum major carries out the band director’s instructions and conducts the band. In JHS’s marching band, Moynihan and Daversa work together, as Daversa is the assistant drum major. 

Moynihan and Daversa have been in band or music starting from fifth and sixth grade, both are looking towards a music career in the future 

“I want to be a band director, I want to eventually teach at Jupiter,” Moynihan said.

Other recognitions have been given to artistically inclined students, with some having their art showcased in competitions, events and galleries. 

Layne Hobbie, senior, placed in the top ten of the Women in Visual Arts Showcase, which had 57 students enter and was county-wide. 

“I’ve been doing art all my life, but I started ceramics at the end of 8th grade,” Hobbie said. Her favorite thing to draw or paint is mainly portraits of people, as well as landscapes. 

Art has been a big part of Hobbie’s life, having taken several classes, surrounded by that interest at JHS, including ceramics and AICE Digital Media, both being taught by Sarah Knudtson, teacher of AICE Digital Media, AP Studio Art and AP 2D Design and Draw.

“In Ms. K’s class, she really encourages entering all kinds of competitions,” Hobbie said. 

R’mahd Pratt, another one of Knudtson’s students, mainly focuses on character art and has had his art featured in JHS’s Colorful Futures Art Fair in 2024 and in an Arti Gras event in Palm Beach Gardens. 

“It [Colorful Futures Art Fair] really taught me some lessons. When it comes to art that’s being done in a certain time span, organization for sure and time management,” Pratt said. “But it was really fun, I got to meet new people and had a bunch of people ask for commissions.”

Pratt has an art page on Instagram in which he takes commissions or requests for unique designs, giving him a way to not only publicize his work but also share it with others.  

Another senior who has dedicated much of their time to an art form is Amy Dominguez, a part of the theater program at JHS. 

“The experience of being in a play or musical is genuinely so welcoming and open. If you find the right community, being there is never a dull moment. And the amount of knowledge you receive is truly unmatched. I’ve never learned more than when I was on a stage,” Dominguez said. She has been doing theater since the sixth grade and has been on stage since then. 

She was nominated by the theater director at JHS, Samantha Knight, for the theater arts category of the Pathfinder Award: and is currently waiting for the results back. 

The Pathfinder Scholarship Fund is an organization located in South Florida that recognizes students in Palm Beach County and Martin County. Students go through interview processes after getting nominated and then await results to know who was selected for each of the 18 categories to receive the scholarship. 

As well as Pathfinders, Dominguez has received other acknowledgments relating to her work in theater. 

“I’ve been recognized for acting performances in general, as well as gotten superior scores at the International Thespians Society (ITS) Competition on both the district and state levels,” Dominguez said. 

Art, music and performance are things that bring people together and allow for perspectives, emotions and thoughts to be shared among those who create it and those who consume it.

“I think the coolest thing about music is that it evokes emotions from people when you play,” Moynihan said. 

One way to become more involved within the art community would be to submit your pieces to different competitions, galleries or other contests. Many of which are available within Jupiter and Palm Beach County, and are targeted towards students.

“There’s so many galleries around that are wanting to be involved with the high school, like Lighthouse Art Center. Right now, I’m involved with Clayhaus,” Hobbie said. Clayhaus is a pottery store in North Palm Beach, Florida. It provides an area where students can practice their craft in a comforting and calm environment meant for artists like them. 

However, these competitions and galleries are not the only way; simply joining one of the many music and arts classes, or clubs offered at school, can serve as a way to facilitate and practice art. 

Among the many possible reasons one might choose to pursue an interest, one common reason is to use it as a form of expression. A creator can allow their own inner sentiments and emotions to be communicated through their music or through their creation. 

“I love the process of starting with something blank and ending up with something that’s your soul,” Hobbie said.