LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT RAMON CORTINES Superintendent
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LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT RAMON CORTINES Superintendent Verdugo Hills High School BYRON MALTEZ 10625 PLAINVIEW AVENUE TUJUNGA, CA 91042 Superintendent, ESC North TELEPHONE: (818) 951-5400 FAX: (818) 352-3577 EDWARD TRIMIS, Ed.D. Principal March 1, 2015 Dear Glee Producer, We are excited to share with you what Glee” has meant to us at Verdugo Hills High School. I grew up with Fame, the film and then the TV show, in the 80’s when I was in college and then when I started teaching. I taught middle school music for 6 years and high school for just over 7years. I then became an administrator, an assistant principal and eventually a principal. I directed pop/jazz/show choir-type groups all the way from when I was in high school through college and at each of my schools. (“Showstoppers” at Berendo MS, “Jazz Singers” at Huntington Park HS, etc.). For the last three years I have been the principal at Verdugo Hills High School and this is where I need to pick up the story and specifically the impact and direction of “Glee”. (“The Glee Project” was actually filmed in part at Verdugo Hills HS in Season 1). When I was hired by the superintendent to be the principal at Verdugo, I was given two charges: improve the relationship between the school and the community and bring students back to the school/increase enrollment. I had built music programs before and had run major enrollment drives at some of my schools, so I knew what I had to do. Using some of the same techniques used in building a music program, I started with a signature music group and then had them be our messengers, the voice and inspiration of the school: Verdugo Voices Glee Club. My first meeting we had 70 kids show up. There was no vocal program at the school, a small, but successful instrumental program, and a drama program which was nearly shut- down (the drama teacher and several staff members left to open a new school). After opening up our Glee Club, we began performing all over the community, winning hearts and enrolling students over the next few years. Glee Club grew in quality and consistency over the years and became well-known throughout our community. I got the reputation of the “glee principal”. Our Glee Club directly led to and is largely credited for an increase in enrollment at the school, an improvement in the comprehensive arts program throughout the school, addition of a new Visual and Performing Arts Magnet School on campus, dramatic increase Verdugo Hills High School Students Will Be: Critical Thinkers, Effective Communicators, Responsible & Self-directed Leaders/Members of Society, and Collaborative & Socially Responsible Citizens (ESLRs) in options for singers, both in the number and quality of vocal groups (Java Jive Jazz Singers, A Cappella Singers, Choir, and Glee Club), 4 years of a “Glee Camp” for our K-8th grade students in the community with Glee Club members as counselors, events like Singing Telegrams for Valentine’s Day, Community Performances, to the opportunities now explored for soloists and students seeking auditions. A Glee singer from Verdugo won the LAUSD PTSA music scholarship last year. We have tons of students auditioning for the Music Center Spotlight Awards each year. We regularly go to performances and other shows (Grammy in the Schools-Live, 100 of us went to see “Wicked”, and many more). Our Glee Club is alive and strong in our 4th year. We are true to our original mission. There are no auditions to get into the group. The group meets at lunch. Everyone is welcome and the group is one of the most diverse on campus. Students with disabilities are welcomed and participate. We routinely perform music that is featured on “Glee” including “Don’t Stop Believing” and many more. This year we are venturing into uncharted territory for us, competing in show choir competitions and taking a concert tour to San Francisco. I think our competition show sums up what the TV show, Glee, has done for our schools, for our students, and for our Glee Club. We are doing a student power/self-affirmation themed show (Hit Me With Your Best Shot/One Way Or Another, Stronger, Shake It Off, Loser Like Me, and Defying Gravity). It is interesting that we are featuring so many songs that have been on the show and this is the 4th year of the club, with many seniors graduating in June. For our closer, Defying Gravity, nearly every singer has a solo. And they sound amazing. No audition. Full support of our Glee family. And we’re going to competition. I am disappointed the show is coming to an end. But please realize, this is not the end of our Glee Club and many that have sprung up across the country since the show’s inception. We will always for grateful for the little push, for the inspiration, and for the message you have sent us to, really, don’t stop believing. We absolutely will carry on. Take Care, Dr. Edward Trimis Principal and Director, Glee Club C LAUSD Public Information Office Steven McCarthy, Coordinator Arts Education Branch, LAUSD Verdugo Hills High School Students Will Be: Critical Thinkers, Effective Communicators, Responsible & Self-directed Leaders/Members of Society, and Collaborative & Socially Responsible Citizens (ESLRs) .