Dear CFA Students and Parents,
Greetings! It is with great pride, pleasure and enthusiasm that I welcome our new and returning CFA students and families to the 2011-2012 school year! On behalf of the CFA faculty and staff, we look forward to ushering in what promises to be an exciting and productive year. As always, I am excited about our upcoming fall and spring Showcases and the imaginative and creative productions our CFA faculty design in conjunction with our talented students!
In thinking of goals for the CFA for this coming year, three immediately come to mind. One of our top priorities for all CFA students is continued artistic and academic excellence. To that end, we are challenging our CFA students to obtain and maintain the required 2.5 GPA for continued enrollment in the program. We are also focusing on technological growth in our CFA classrooms, incorporating technologies such as Skype and web-streaming, thus allowing our CFA students the opportunity to participate in virtual field trips and master classes – essentially interacting with and reaching out to performing and visual arts professors, teachers and students around the country without ever leaving the CFA classrooms! Finally, we aim to increase community involvement and awareness with the help of our CFA faculty, staff and students, and with the assistance of our Friends of the Center for the Arts (FCFA), our support organization which recently obtained non-profit 501(c)3 status.
As I embark on my third year as Chair of the CFA, I am humbled not only by the extraordinary talents and abilities of our students, but also by the personal challenges and sacrifices that many of you continually have to overcome. It is a testament to your persistence, perseverance and passion that enables you to surmount these personal challenges and to achieve greatness. Never lose sight of your high quality work ethic, your academic discipline, your cooperative spirit, and your strong sense of self, all of which are needed for success during your tenure in the CFA and in the years following. Finally, remember that you have been accepted as a member of the CFA community; it is now your responsibility to meet these challenges and to make a full commitment to these principals. Your artistic side will flourish if it is nurtured by hard work!
With best wishes for a productive year,
Stephanie Poxon, Ph.D.
Specialty Center Chair