By Dane Anderson, Staff Writer

Thirty minutes before the start of the Westlake High School annual Zenith extravaganza of dance talent, David Poole, managing director of the performing arts center, was calmly talking to a roomful of students about how to steel their nerves and take charge of the stage.

The 30-plus students sitting in a circle could easily have been mistaken for career technical experts. They didn’t talk like teenagers; they spoke like adults. They talked about teamwork and responsibility, about having a good time and setting the audience on its ear with technical expertise.

“Zenith gave us a chance this year to showcase everything we can do with the gifts (equipment) we have been given,” said Travis Favaron, a senior next year and the president of the WHS technical entertainment crew. “The ability to work with such high level equipment and really get your hands on what professionals use is such a unique experience.”

The district’s PAC was under construction for a year during an $18 million renovation. The Zenith performance was the first event held in the reopened facility.

Poole said that Zenith was run completely by WHS students by design.

“The district has this magnificent facility and a responsibility to teach students leadership and other skills they are going to need in the world. By putting students in charge of running the technology, we can take care of both needs.”

“It is completely student run,” Favaron agreed. “There isn’t a staff member that touches a button during a production. They’re here if we need help, but, by production time, we are running the show.”

Being on the tech crew is hard work. Blake Kobelan was the stage manager for Zenith this year, top dog to the 34 tech students working underneath him. He spent 90 hours on tech matters in the two weeks preceding the production, including 30 hours programming a single light sequence.

Still, students sign up for the program in droves. Poole expects 90 students to be involved in the tech curriculum next year at WHS. For those students who plan to continue studying technical entertainment after high school, the experience offers the obvious advantages of using top-of-the-line equipment, the same kind used by networks such as ESPN. The district spent $65,000 earlier this year upgrading its technical equipment and software.

For other students who likely will not go into technical entertainment fields, the program teaches leadership skills and teamwork.

“So much of it is about leadership,” Poole said. “I can’t run everything myself; it’s practically impossible. Everybody has to do their part right on time.”

Favaron, who moved from a private school to the Eanes school district specifically for the tech program, said he uses the skills he has learned there everywhere he goes – at home, in other projects and when with friends.

“Just being involved in tech teaches you how to grow as a leader and how to get things accomplished as a team,” Favaron said. “That helps you no matter what you choose to do in life.”

WHS senior Robert Durkee said the tech program also helps students find a place in the large high school, helps them meet new friends and helps with the transition from middle school. Students who come into the tech program have no previous experience. They are a diverse group, athletes, artists, musicians and kids with all kinds of interests and friend groups.

“We take every kid who walks through the doors,” Poole said.

Tech students work on district fundraising events, shoot videos of the marching band, and run the technical support for the Nutcracker and Zenith. Videos they produce of WHS football games are broadcast on Time Warner Cable. They travel to places like New York City, Los Angeles, Vegas, Orlando, London, Australia and Italy.

“We like to take students on educational trips outside the PAC into the real world where they can see other people doing the same thing they’re doing on the exact same equipment,” Poole said.

Now that the renovation of the PAC is complete, Poole will focus next year on curriculum and the possibilities new technology affords. He will be implementing audio video programs and upgrading for the football season.

“So much of what we do has to do with believing in abilities,” he said. “All our students have done some truly amazing things.”