In my fifth year as Fine Arts Director, I feel overwhelmed by joy at seeing the growth of our arts program and the numerous students’ lives I see impacted daily through the power of creativity and worship. I feel blessed and privileged to partake in the personal and artistic development that our students go through as they grow.

An event that has certainly evolved into a massive artistic undertaking is our bi-annual Evening of Arts performance, which was this past Wednesday, October 9. The Evening of Arts idea stemmed from a necessity to showcase the students involved in arts classes midway through each semester in the academic year. We wanted to provide a space in which students could embrace their artistic expression (playing, singing, drawing) in a lighthearted environment that was appealing to our FRCS community. We began holding this event in Holy Grounds, with small ensembles and choirs performing to a full coffee-house-type audience with great success. As years have gone by, and as we’ve seen growth in numbers and solidity of our performing arts classes, we found ourselves with the new necessity of allowing our bigger ensembles to perform. For this reason, our department decided to change the venue for this year’s concert to the Commons and PAC.

Although we had had very successful attendance at Holy Grounds in years past, I was not prepared for what I witnessed this past Wednesday. I remember standing in awe while addressing the crowd in the PAC, not quite understanding why there were so many people. As I continued greeting people throughout the night, I realized that we are not hosting only parents and siblings of our performers (which is what you would expect from a typical mid-week 7-12th arts performance). I gladly met dozens of grandparents, cousins, friends, aunts and uncles, all ready to support the artists.

I am so proud of each and every single one of our performers. I am a privileged educator who gets to see young students using their gifts and talents to worship the One that deserves all the Glory and Honor. I am lucky to work with such an amazing team of talented educators. They truly are the ones that make all this magic happen. I also feel extremely blessed to be part of a community that has embraced the arts and recognizes the importance of artistic creativity in their students’ academic formation. Thank you for all the support you have given our department. On the other hand, if you haven’t had the opportunity to attend one of our academic performances or events, I invite you to take the time to support our students in this amazing experience!