Local Student Earns Playwriting Honors Redmond Proficiency Academy (RPA) junior Aubrey Luse was recently awarded a Superior rating for her play, “The Plant Crusade,” from the Educational Theatre Association, a international organization dedicated to providing high school students access to theatre education. “The Plant Crusade” is about an awkward, poetry-loving student named Ophelia, who has recently realized that she’s gay. What follows is a story about what it’s like to be LGBTQ+ in a less-than-accepting time period, dealing with high school, and the long road to being accepted (as well as accepting herself). “I absolutely cannot believe this show made it this far,” Luse said. “I’m so grateful to everyone who helped make it happen, and if this script helps even one person realize it’s okay to be who they are, then it will have been more than worth it.”