Rebecca Wood understands the dynamic of teamwork, whether it’s on the soccer field, in the classroom, or through the performing arts.
The Hopkinsville High School junior double dips in the fall, playing soccer and running cross country in the same season – sometimes on the same day as she did recently.
Away from sports, Rebecca is an entertainer. She routinely participates in local plays and musicals through Campanile Productions.
It’s that love of the arts that spearheaded an application to the Governor’s School for the Arts over the summer on the campus of the University of Kentucky.
“I got to immerse myself in drama and learn more about the art form. We have some resources here in Hopkinsville but sometimes it’s not as big as I would like,” she said. “This was a really good opportunity for me to get more drama experience and just meet new people from around the state.”
GSA is a three-week program funded by the state that provides hands-on opportunities for high school students who are actors, musicians, dancers, writers, or visual performers. Rebecca was one of more than 500 selected for two sessions at UK.
Rebecca got the acting bug when she was six years old.
“I did my very first play with my mom and she was like my mother in the play too so it really stuck with me from there,” she said. A short time later, Rebecca’s mother Tracy died but the memory of acting with her didn’t for Rebecca.
“I’ve just kept going and it’s just been always something that I really love to do.”
One performance that stands out to Rebecca was Campanile’s ‘Newsies” in March of 2022.
“It was such a fun experience, and I love dancing. That’s probably my biggest of the three and then acting and then singing,” she said.
Another favorite role of Rebecca’s was playing Gladys in the Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
Fall sports will keep Rebecca from performing with Campanile later this fall when they present Young Frankenstein, but she said she will be ready to perform in the spring. That means she will likely skip track and field season for a second straight year not only to perform but to give her body some rest after pulling double duty with soccer and cross country.
A trip to the region soccer tournament and a chance to run at the state cross country meet is on her immediate athletic agenda in the coming weeks.
Once her junior season in school wraps up, she is hoping to be accepted to the Governor’s Scholars Program next summer.
Rebecca pulls down straight A’s in the classroom and admits the advanced placement classes are getting tougher but she feels she is ready to finish strong – much like is required at the end of a soccer match or cross country race.
