Hailey Laidig has been singing and dancing her entire life. She started taking singing and dancing lessons at the age of three, but she didn’t consider it as her life’s goal until much later. In the middle of her junior year, Hailey transferred to CHS and joined the theater program here. Her love for theater has grown enormously over the last two years, and she hopes to continue pursuing her passion all the way to Broadway.
Teagan is grateful for her best friends, Elle Patterson and Teagan Tollefson, who helped her meet more people and supported her through her transition to a new school. She is also grateful for Chandler’s theater program director and teacher, Ms. Stephanie Likes: “She has given me so much growth as a student.”
Hailey will be attending American Musical and Dramatic Academy located in New York City with a $40,000 scholarship. She also earned a scholarship from Sun Lakes Community Theater in Chandler to support her college education. Hailey plans to move to New York City in October to attend AMDA and earn her BFA in Musical Theater. While there, she’ll take acting, singing, and dancing lessons, as well as musical theory and theater history classes.
Hailey believes the arts are incredibly important for the world. The world needs more people involved in singing, acting, musical theater, painting, and any kind of art to survive. Hailey would like to leave knowing her talents have left an impact at CHS by inspiring younger students who have seen her perform to continue in the arts. She believes that people who are interested in the arts shouldn’t be afraid to pursue it in college, especially theater: “Genuinely—don’t listen to what the haters say. I know it’s so cheesy, but it’s so true!”
Hailey’s most memorable experiences here at CHS revolve around APAC because of the field trips, connections, and knowledge she has learned. Having transferred here in her junior year, Hailey said “the diversity of people on campus and the different experiences we have” make Chandler High School special.
Hailey firmly believes that CHS has prepared her for the outside world, naming her skilled teachers, nice classmates, and her counselor Ms. Tyra Ortiz as major contributing factors. Even when she struggled in the fall of her senior year, Hailey looks back over the last seven months with gratitude, realizing she learned so much about her own worth and confidence. Hailey believes she has rebuilt herself into a better person than she was when she first moved to Chandler.
