Rebecca Pitchford
College Composition and Research Editorial Essay September 28, 2015 Equal Recognition The Chillicothe Fine Arts Department has brought multiple talented professionals to Chillicothe to play with the CHS band and has had record breaking attendance to some of the best musicals CHS has directed. Even though some people are interested in watching students play sports, CHS should advertise the Fine Arts Department the same way they do the athletic department because the students and directors put countless hours into the preparation, concerts and performances would raise money for the department, and the students who do not play sports will get recognized for their outstanding talent. First of all, the Fine Arts Department dedicates hours of preparation for their performances.The students and directors work long days building the different sets for the productions. The band/choir students spend long days working to perfect their music as well. Although, the football team spends two or more hours after school working on perfecting their plays, the drama club has even spent nights at the Performing Arts Center till 10:00 or more running through lines, music, and building props and sets for the stage. Also,the band runs into second hour because they are still marching outside, marched in the rain multiple times, and has early Saturday morning performances. Furthermore, the Fine Arts Department will create lots of opportunities for the department to make money off of the productions that the drama club puts on and the concerts the band and choir perform. Every year the Chillicothe Band hosts a celebrity band concert, bringing in a famous musician from anywhere in the US; tickets are roughly about ten dollars a piece which would bring in a great amount of money to support our band. The same goes for the play productions, they draw in families of the students performing in the play, parents who bring their young kids to watch the younger oriented performances, each paying ten dollars really adds up and can fund our department tremendously. Students are more likely to go to athletic games because they seem more enjoyable and that is what they are used to hearing about in the high school. If we make students who attend the games more aware of the performances and get rewarded by coming such as: class competition points, bonus points or candy the next day, they would be more likely to come and support the Fine Arts Department. Finally, every week someone with outstanding athletic talent gets chosen for athlete of the week. Why is that not a choice for the musicians who are first-chair clarinet or made it on the all-district choir? There are many talented musicians in the schools Fine Arts Department that should get recognition for performing on stage, instead, people read about the big touchdown on friday or the winning buzzer shot at the basketball game. If the community was more aware of the talent the school drama department has, then the students would get opportunities for scholarships and recognition throughout the community. Advertising the Fine Arts Department would show off our our beautiful Performing arts center, motivate the students to join drama, band, or choir, and it will build up self-esteem with the students who are not in athletics. Six years ago, students in the drama department got the opportunity to meet a lady that was a Holocaust survivor and share her story through acting it out. Stories and opportunities like that should be advertised throughout the school and community so that students can share their love of drama with the community and peers. |