Hutchinson High School junior Landon Butler discovered acting when he was in fourth grade.
"I signed up for the YoungStars program in Hutch and fell in love with it and have been doing it ever since," he said.
And, according to the Minnesota Department of Education, he's doing pretty well with his passion. This past week it was announced he is the recipient of a Scholar of Distinction Award in the MDE theater arts awards program. MDE recognizes students in the areas of leadership, math, science, social studies, STEM and theater arts.
"The award is conferred by the Minnesota Department of Education to recognize distinguished work by highly motivated self-directed students," reads a press release from MDE. "Each awardee has completed a substantial body of work in a content area, exceeded the requirements for graduation standards, engaged in a rigorous course of study, and has completed an extraordinarily focused research project."
The award comes after an application process that began in December. After submitting a portfolio with work samples, his resume, analysis of plays and letters of recommendation, he was invited to perform for MDE. His accomplishments include his time as captain of the speech team, lead roles in musicals, community work and mentoring for the YoungStars program.
Butler was asked to perform a showcase for the committee in Minneapolis, but the response to COVID-19 canceled that plan.
"It ended up being a Zoom call," Butler said. "I performed two monologues for them and there was an interview asking a whole bunch of questions."
Two weeks later, he received a letter with his award. It comes with a medal and a distinction that will be included on his high school transcript.
"Landon has grown so much as an actor in the last three years," said Hutchinson High School social studies teacher Jason Olson, who coaches Butler in speech and directs him on stage. "He shows such a high level of curiosity with everything he does and makes those around him better. While his acting has grown, he has shown even greater development into becoming a leader of uncommon ability."
Butler performs in three shows a year: the school musical, one-act play and spring play. He also is involved behind the scenes in two YoungStars productions each year. He counts Bert in "Mary Poppins" as his biggest role.
"He was a lot of fun," Butler said. "A lot of dancing went into that. That was probably my favorite part. He's such an upbeat character, it was fun to play."
Last year, Butler was the first HHS student in 15 years to make it to the State Speech Tournament. This year he has qualified in the drama category for the Southern Minnesota District for the Minnesota Speech and Debate Association National Tournament, which will be held virtually in June.
"You would have to go back many decades since Hutch has had anybody qualify for this tournament. This would be back to some of the debate teams Hutch had 50 years ago," Olson said. "I truly believe he is just getting started."
