While DSST boasts a rigorous STEM program, allowing students to innovate every day with challenging projects, experiments, and internships, there is also space to excel in more artistic endeavors. This has been exemplified by DSST: Conservatory Green High School sophomore Katanu Mwendwa, who recently won the prestigious DCPA Education Regional High School Playwriting Workshop and Competition for her play Después de la lluvia (After the Rain). She is one of three finalists whose play will be read at the 2019 Colorado New Play Summit on February 23.
After participating in a 5th grade after school writing program, Katanu became a passionate writer, and hasn’t stopped since then. Much of Katanu’s love of writing stems from her love of reading. The unique worlds of the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series inspired her to create characters and fantasy worlds of her own, and make them stand out in a way that people would love to read about. As she gets her many ideas onto paper, she is guided by the Toni Morrison quote “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
While she loves to write adventure fantasy stories, Después de la lluvia (After the Rain) is realistic fiction set in Puerto Rico. Struck by the news coverage surrounding Hurricane Maria’s destruction, outbreaks of disease, and the disappointing politics surrounding the disaster, she wanted to shed light on the challenges that remain, even though it’s been over a year since the storm blew through.
Katanu’s English teacher, Meriwether Joyner, describes her as the “definition of a self-starter with a deep love for learning.” Katanu is thankful for the many educators at CG HS who have helped hone her craft, and advises her peers to share their writing with others that they trust. Nate Reaven, her English teacher last year, always had great advice on creating a flow, and identifying what made sense, and what didn’t, in her writing. This year, Katanu and Meriwether enjoy casual, fun chats about what they’re reading, and Meriwether often shares texts that she considers to be highly influential and important to help Katanu grow as a writer.
Katanu’s talents are not limited to writing. Her favorite classes at CG HS are Computer Science and Math, and she hopes to study Atmospheric Science in college. While Computer Science may seem like an unlikely favorite for a playwright, the two are in fact strongly connected. Right now, the class is building their own games, which involves storyboarding, developing characters, and creating a narrative and structure for the game- all concepts that are of course deeply fundamental to storytelling.
Don’t miss the reading of Después de la lluvia (After the Rain) at the Colorado New Play Summit on February 23. If you can’t make it, we’ll be sharing more details on the special reading at CG High School on February 25.
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