ROMANZA Announces Scholarship Winners

The Romanza Board of Directors was pleased to award two $500 scholarships to outstanding students in the arts at the SAHS Awards Ceremony on Monday, May 15. Romanza is a 501(c)3 organization whose mission is to promote the arts, culture and heritage of St. Augustine. One of the Romanza Board's goals is to encourage students to continue their study of the arts.

The two recipients of the awards are Kiera Pheffer and Rhys Bennett. Kiera Pfeffer is an outstanding student with a long list of achievements, especially in dance. She is not only a performer with the high school dance program and with the St. Augustine Ballet, but she is also a dance teacher and choreographer. In her essay she said: The enjoyment of sharing my passion for dance and seeing my students improving their skills and technique is so rewarding and gives me a great sense of pride. Kiera will continue her study of dance at Nova Southeastern University.

Rhys Bennett is not only a superior academic student, but he has received many awards and accolades for his musicianship and for his prowess as a saxophone player and jazz musician. He recently completed an arrangement for jazz band of a full-length children's musical from a piano score. Rhys plans to continue his studies in jazz at Florida State University.

In his essay, Rhys stated: You can get on a band stand with four other people who do not speak the same language but if you start playing "Fly Me to the Moon", all of them would be able to communicate with each other in such a way that words are not needed. Romanza was delighted to honor these two outstanding students in the arts.