ALBERT EINSTEIN HIGH SCHOOL 11135 Newport Mill Road Kensington, MD 20895

Testimony Before the Montgomery County Public Schools Board of Education On Behalf of The Visual Arts Center In support of “SAVING THE VAC” Maintaining/Increasing the Current Budget and Staff of the Program April 27, 2015

Good Afternoon Mrs. Patricia O’Neill and fellow members of the Montgomery County Public School Board: My name is Kendra Wymes. I am a parent of the Visual Arts Center at Albert Einstein High School and active Vice President of the PTSA with a focus on school improvement initiatives. My son, Aremu Wymes, is a sophomore in the VAC program. To say that the VAC is an extremely valuable program would be an understatement; not just for my son but for Einstein High School, MCPS, as well as the community at large. The program affords students the opportunity to learn various creative techniques, leadership skills, problem solving methods and life skills that prepare the students to become professional world class artists. Students have gone far, including Rebecca Sugar, a VAC alum who is best known for being a writer and storyboard artist. Rebecca’s work is feature in an animated television series, and she is the creator of the TV show, , both of which air on weekly.

I believe that it is meaningful for us to share the voice of students who are enrolled in the program as well as alum, parents and friends of the VAC. I asked my son to share his perspective and tell me what the VAC means to him. Here is what he said to me:

“The VAC of Albert Einstein High School is no mere art class. Everything about the VAC transforms it from just another period of the school day to an enriching place of development for visual arts students. Starting from the room itself, serving as a state -of-the art studio to having a cache’ of abundant supply of fine arts media that students need to execute the various projects on a daily basis, to the unparalleled instruction, the VAC embodies all the fundamental aspects of a professional art development center.

However, if you reduce the staff of the VAC by even one, you are effectively cutting in half the staff, thereby completely destroying the student/teacher ratio and the level of individual attention that each student can receive.”

I mentioned to my son that the history of the VAC is remarkable! The program has been extraordinarily effective utilizing the two professional artists/teachers to advance the skills of an ever increasing number of aspiring artists it serves. Not to mention that there is a much higher incidence of matching learning styles with teaching methodology because there are two different teachers. The VAC has grown steadily and is now servicing over 100 students/ twice as many students with the same two teachers as when there were 50 students in the VAC years ago. In truth, with such a successful track record, we should be petitioning to increase the number of staff, certainly not cut it in half. The VAC has the power to change the future!

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