Las Vegas, NV - With school budget cuts across the valley, the arts have been on the chopping block.  But many students aren't letting the curtain fall quietly.

Durango High school students held a "save the arts" rally Tuesday and were joined by students from schools across the area facing similar cuts to their programs.

Durango learned Friday, its enrollment was down 197 students from last year and that cuts will have to be made.  Initially, that meant the choir program would disappear.

"We saw people in tears saying why is this going on, why is this being taken away from us," says Choir President Bridgette Serl.

Students rallied and the principal was able to save the choir program, but one art teacher and one counselor will still be cut.  That will result in the loss of some photography, painting and drawing classes according to principal Mark Gums.

But for these students, it's not just a class they are losing.

"It's so much more," says Durango senior Jorgina Arballo. "It's a way for so many students to express their passion and express everything they have inside of them."

Alumnus James Boldt says discovering the arts his junior year turned his high school experience around.

"I sort of straightened out and got a lot more responsibility from teamwork and trying to win competitions. School meant something to me," says Boldt.

He went from Durango to making $900 per week performing at the Venetian in Macau, China.

Students say for them, art isn't just a hobby, it's a passion and important to their future.

"I don't want to be counted as another number on a piece of paper saying we should get rid of this," says Serl. "I want to be counted as an individual person saying I want this program, I love this program."

Already reeling from cuts earlier this year, students say they can't take another round.

They have drafted a letter to Governor Jim Gibbons explaining the importance of the arts and pleading for an end to the cuts.

The Clark County School District says the counselor being cut from Durango will be reassigned to another school and they are hoping to find a position for the art teacher at another school as well.