Stark County High School senior Lauren Best is the IHSA's nominee for the 2025 NFHS Heart of the Arts Award. For more on the award, as well as past nominees, click here.
Sometimes a name just fits.
That’s the case for Stark County High School senior Lauren Best.
Lauren is the most decorated musician in the history of Stark County High School, a school of approximately 230 students located in Toulon, about 45 minutes northwest of Peoria.
She is an academic standout who is in contention to be her class valedictorian this spring, while also partaking in a laundry list of extracurricular and community involvement, including robotics, Girl Scouts, and volunteering at her church just to name a few.
“Lauren’s name literally says it all, she really is the best!” said Stark County music director Sophia Elswick. “I didn’t get the honor of seeing her grow up, but I have seen her grow so much over the last year. I am going to cry when she graduates.”
Despite the growth that Elswick has witnessed in Lauren over the last year, it’s important to note that the senior started from an uncanny position of maturity for someone her age. Lauren is the IHSA’s 2025 nominee for the NFHS Heart of the Arts Award, based on the leadership and unbridled passion she showed in helping to keep the Stark County music program afloat during the first semester of her junior year.
“I think the main thing that led me to step up was that I was, and still am, very passionate about the program,” said Lauren. “I had already been somewhat of a leader in the music program previously. It just came naturally to me to step up, and nobody had any opposition to it.”
Following Lauren’s sophomore year, Stark County’s long-time band and choir director retired, but her replacement quit unexpectedly just a few weeks into the 2023 school year.
From September of 2023 until January of 2024, when Elswick stepped in to take over the role, a group of then juniors led by Lauren filled the leadership role to keep the Stark County high school music programs going.
“Teacher shortages are a growing concern, particularly in specialized fields like art and music,” said Stark County Principal Megan McGann. “The hiring pool is exponentially slimmer in small rural communities and districts like our own. As our administration worked diligently to fill the music teacher's role, the shortage weighed heavily on our fine arts students. Lauren’s leadership, alongside her fellow classmates, made all the difference during that time.”
While there was always a substitute teacher in the room, some were not musically inclined, which led Lauren to take the reins and help guide the class. From pulling out the music, to making sure the instruments were set up, to planning the songs they would practice and deciding when they sounded good enough, Lauren and a few other students took the lead.
“There were some days where it was hard to get everyone motivated,” said Lauren. “In band, I knew that we just needed to continue to play. Whether that was practicing songs we already knew or trying to add new songs. It was more of a problem in choir. I was the only student in the class who played piano, so I was able to play piano and lead rehearsals that way.”
Lauren’s responsibilities didn’t end at school either, as she helped to coordinate the band for home football games, including serving as the conductor of the National Anthem, which Lauren says can be a “tricky” song due to the fermata pauses within it.
“I had to communicate a lot with our principal (McGann),” said Lauren. “There were a lot of details that our teachers took care of that we never thought about. Our home football games are played near the Stark County Elementary School in Wyoming, so things like having a bus to transport the instruments and music were new challenges. We built a bridge between the band and administration to make sure those things happened.”
One thing that was not going to happen as fall turned to winter in 2023 was the annual school Christmas concert program. But Lauren saw to it that the show would go on, saying “she needed it as a part of her high school experience”. Lauren also credits one of the substitute teachers, Dr. Wally Parks, for his assistance in making sure the program happened. The Christmas concert gave Elswick, who had already been hired by Stark County, but was still awaiting her college graduation to officially begin teaching, a sneak peek at her future students.
“I didn’t know what I was going to see that night, but I came away really impressed, especially knowing what was going on behind the scenes,” said Elswick. “During the interview process, I was told I was inheriting a dedicated group of students, as well as being told specifically about Lauren and her awesomeness. Short of taking attendance and grading, Lauren was doing my job while being a high school student and getting her Associate Degree (from Blackhawk College).”
Elswick’s arrival didn’t necessarily bring an end to Best’s leadership role, as the new teacher worked out a plan with the district to have Lauren serve as her Teacher Assistant with the burgeoning junior high music program, which boasts over 50 members.
“Most schools are able to have more than one music teacher, so they can work on multiple instrument groups at the same time,” said Elswick. “Lauren has been a godsend for the junior high program and the kids LOVE her! She has set a standard that my future students are going to attempt to uphold.”
Lauren believes the leadership and passion that she showed during what should have been a trying semester can be traced to three seminal musical influences in her life. She cites her childhood piano teacher Jennfier Nutzhorn, as well as her school music directors Brenda Macke and Angie Roark as her “musical inspirations.” Elswick is quickly gaining ground as well.
“It was such a relief when Ms. Elswick arrived,” said Lauren. “She brought a lot of leadership and fun back into the band and choir programs.”
That has allowed Best to be a student, mostly, throughout her senior year. She is looking forward to the IHSA Music State Series Solo & Ensemble State Series this spring. A gifted clarinet player, pianist, and singer, she has performed 33 total solo and ensemble pieces thus far in her IHSA Music career, receiving a perfect rating of 1 on all 33. She plans to set her attention to Industrial Engineering at Iowa State University next fall, but music will always be a big part of her life.
“I enjoy being in the music room every day,” said Lauren. “For me, music is a stress reliever. Music is where I met so many of my close friends. Music has given me so much and will always be an important part of my life.”
