Vermont State House, Montpelier
April 3, 2002
Honorees’ Biographies
Gary Barton is this year’s Rivendell’s honoree for his contributions to Arts Education. Gary has been participating in theater education and community theater since his college days at Framingham State College. He has participated in various dance classes and is currently doing jazz dance at the School for Contemporary Dance. As a singer, Gary is receiving vocal coaching from mezzo soprano, Erma Gattie. This spring he is performing with the Thetford Chamber Singers.
As an educator, Gary has worked to integrate the arts into the schools that he has been employed in. In Orford, NH, he began an arts committee that planned performances and residencies for this rural K-12 school. Now a part of the Rivendell School District, he coordinates the district’s Hopkins Center field trips and enjoys doing the groundwork to bring performers and residencies to the district.
In his third grade classroom, he instructs recorder and uses many of the skills he has learned from the various guest artists he has met. While at Antioch Graduate School, he concentrated on honing his writing and theater skills to further children’s improvisation and writing skills. He has enjoyed writing, directing, and revising a play based on Aesops fables and, someday, hopes to publish it.
St. Johnsbury Academy honors William J. Cruess, Bernier Mayo and Doug Drown for their leadership, support, and dedication to build the Charles Hosmer Morse Center for the Arts at the Academy.
William Cruess wrote the VAAE: “There are so many people involved in the arts at St. Johnsbury Academy; the entire Fine Arts Department, Trustees like William Julian, Chairman of our Buildings and Grounds Committee, Rod Vitty and Susan Grayson, Co-Chairs of the “Just Imagine” fund raising Committee, Dale Wells - Trustee and General Contractor (responsible for the construction of the new Arts Center), Thomas Lovett our current Headmaster and William Vinton the Department Chair for the Arts, all more deserving of recognition. This is an even greater achievement inasmuch as I am not directly associated with the instruction of the arts, merely, an ardent fan and supporter of the arts, both visual and performing.”
In my position, as Assistant Headmaster for Business & Operations at St. Johnsbury Academy, I had the pleasure of working on the Charles Hosmer Morse Center for the Arts over the last several years; being involved in everything from initial discussions on the need for such a center, to the design of the center, to working on the fund raising (all Academy buildings are paid for with private funds; no capital improvements are charged to the Day School Tuition) and then to the actual construction of the award winning facility.
The dreams and hopes of our art instructional faculty were realized with the completion of the Morse. The daily activity and traffic at the Morse re-affirms that we made the correct decision in building such a facility and that all the time, effort and resources were worth it. All of our art classes, painting - music - chorus - art - photography - fashion design - etching - print making - drama - dance - sculpture, are full. We have 674 students enrolled in classes of fine arts; that is 71 % of our total student population. I am confident in stating that not many high schools could boast of such numbers. I am glad that I was a participant in bringing the center for the Arts to fruition.
Once again, I am proud to be a part of such dynamic programs; programs, which we plan to, build on and expand each year. In fact, we have a very ambitious program scheduled for this summer, utilizing all of the different art disciplines, to introduce and promote the arts to children in the Northeast Kingdom and northern New Hampshire.
Marcia Dockum, Black River High School, has been an exemplary visual arts educator for more than 15 years. Her dedication and enthusiasm for the arts are unlimited. She has worked hard to integrate the arts into the lives of all students, grades 7 12. In addition, she has written grants to bring visiting artists on campus to work with students. The work they produce graces our hallways and includes paintings, bas relief sculptures and ceramic tiles. Her community work is equally important, teaching outside of school and coordinating craft shows. She is most worthy of this important recognition.
Lee Fegelman, after retiring as President of a major textile company, moved to Manchester Center, Vermont. In 1998, he was invited to become a trustee of the Southern Vermont Arts Center.
Mr.Fegelman took on a two-year responsibility as liaison between the architect, general contractor and the Arts Center for the construction of the new Elizabeth de C. Wilson Museum and the restoration of the Center’s existing Yester House Galleries and the Arkell Performing Pavilion.
In 2001, Mr. Fegelman commenced working with the Superintendent of Schools, Greg Sciezka, and school administrators at the Manchester Elementary and Middle School, to provide 500 free memberships for the students so they would be able to visit and partake in museum and gallery activities with their parents and siblings free of charge for an entire year. He is currently working with school officials to schedule outdoorManchester Elementary and Middle School student jazz band performances to greet patrons as they arrive at the Arkell Pavilion for upcoming summer and fall professional jazz concerts.
Lee Fegelman is a gem in the Manchester community and a most worthy recipient of the 2002 Art in Education recognition award.
Alicia Fisk is being recognized for her work in the area of Arts Education. Alicia recently joined the faculty of the Windsor School District as the teacher of dance. Alicia was the driving force in the development, writing, and now implementation of a K-12 dance curriculum. This state of the art document integrates the “curriculum threads” of “perform, create, and appreciate” throughout the entire school experience. This document also clearly references Vermont State Standards. As stated in the document “the ultimate goal of this curriculum is to help each student find his or her unique voice as a performer, choreographer, and informed critic.” Alicia has provided outstanding leadership in the initiation of this curriculum. She has engaged Middle School students, both boys and girls, in this new area, she has developed corresponding coursework, and she has done the marketing and public relations to tap the interest of students. Alicia’s presence within the school has also supported the general increased interest in the arts. Her creativity, talent, and leadership is a wonderful asset and should be highly recognized.
Annie Gibavic-Witherspoon, a Sutton community member contributes to arts education whether in the role of parent, volunteer, community member, teacher, or artist-in-residence; Annie uses her incredible range of talents to promote an appreciation of the varied art forms. District children have benefited by her instruction in activities such as: theater production, choreography, 2 & 3 dimensional art, and Contra and May Pole dancing.
The Rutland City School District is proud to honor Glenn E. Giles. Glenn is currently the Music, Fine Arts supervisor for grades K 12 in Rutland City Public Schools.
Glenn has been a music educator in Vermont for sixteen years. During that time Glenn has been an instrumental music instructor, Director of the Rutland City Band, Director of the Mount Saint Joseph Academy Band, Director of the Proctor Community Chorus, and a member of the Marble City Swing Band.
Glenn is a member of Zeta Sigma chapter of the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society at the University of Maine. Professionally he is a Board Member of Eastern Division of The Music Educators, Vermont Music Educators Association, the National Federation Interscholastic Music Association and the New England Festival Association.
Recent accomplishments include instituting a string program starting at the fourth grade level leading to the development of an orchestra at RHS. He was instrumental in The Rutland High School Marching Band representing Vermont in the Inaugural Parade of President George W. Bush, and mounting The Pajama Game, the first ever high school performance at the newly renovated Paramount Theater.
Irene “Dobi” Gilles is an ego less artist who serves every happy day as a kindergarten teacher at Sherburne Elementary in Windsor Central Supervisory Union. Her classroom is a place of wonder and discovery. Her expert teaching style has its core in the dearest, genuine respect for every child she encounters.
In addition to being a superlative teacher, Ms. Gilles is a professional mime who trains with the ease of a master. A dedicated wise women, she passionately passes on the voice of the body and the value of the arts.
In addition to offering mime training at her own school, Ms. Gilles is a member of a dynamic trio of after school Creative Arts teachers who stir the artistic spirits of students from six union elementary schools. There is more: she choreographs and teaches movement to the Yoh Theatre Players at Woodstock High School, does workshops in the middle school PE classes, and does public workshops at conferences.
The year the Yoh Theatre Players produced the musical Strider, the entire cast of 37 had to transform from humans to horses and back again. Ms. Gilles took the actors to an indoor stable to run and trot with the horses; adolescent actor animal transformations under her guidance were remarkable.
Working with very young children, she will have them physically draw in response to music. She quietly coaxes, providing permission to express themselves without fear, until they begin to make bold, personal strokes of appreciation. Ms. Gilles is in tune with the rhythms of existence, and with no fanfare she passes this on to children. She is a master at living and teaching and mime. Windsor Central, Supervisory Union is proud to have her honored for her distinguished career of contribution to the lives of the children in our district.
Harold “Hal” Harrison, spearheaded the 1999 Springfield School Board goal: “To continue to encourage support for the visual and performing arts in the schools and the community.” He organized a group of Arts educators, representatives from community Arts organizations, and interested individuals to work together to achieve the goal. Out of this meeting evolved a Friend of the Arts organization who communicates news of art events to the community. The Arts are now more prominent within the district, and there’s a subgroup studying the possibility of an Arts Academy as part of the Technical Center for the future. His commitment to the students and the arts is exemplary!
Hal grew up in Iowa and attended Grinnell College and Andover Newton Theological School. He was a minister in various churches in New Hampshire and Connecticut. In 1976, he came to Vermont to be Associate Minister for the Vermont Conference United Church of Christ. After retirement he ran for the School Board and is now starting his sixth year of service.
Whitney Lamy, has been the Art teacher at Poultney Elementary since September 1999. Since that time she has proven to be an asset to the school district. An artist herself, Whitney brings a unique perspective to her students. They are always encouraged to experiment in a supportive nurturing environment. Whitney has been an active participant on the district’s Arts Alliance Committee and has worked on staging an “Arts” evening annually to highlight the students’ work throughout the school district. This evening showcases the visual, musical and theatrical talents of students in grades K-12. Also featured are performances, demonstrations and displays by community members.
Whitney’s work as an artist and teacher is extensive and varied. After receiving her B.F.A. in Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst she chose to work as a graphic artist in a large newspaper art department and as a freelance artist in her own business. Her most recent accomplishment was as illustrator for the children’s book, Meeri meets the Ospreys published by Central Vermont Public Service. CVPS donated a copy of the book to every third grader and library in the state of Vermont.
Throughout her years working as a professional artist, she also taught art classes on a freelance basis-for several institutions, museums, public schools, colleges and businesses. For the past six years Whitney has been an Adjunct Professor in the Art Departments at Castleton State College and The Community College of Vermont.
Whitney says, “I am most proud of my work integrating Art History into my curriculum and helping students appreciate the important role artists play in our lives. Every month an artist (past or present) is featured at a special bulletin board I created called “Artist of the Month”. Even teachers and staff look forward to the display each month! In addition to this, I have developed an Art Museum field trip program for each grade 1-6 every year. Students at Poultney Elementary School annually visit The Clark Art Institute, The Bennington Museum, The Southern Vermont Art Center, The Hyde Collection and this spring a trip to The Chaffee Center for Visual Arts. Exposing student, to the experience of seeing an original Rembrandt, Renoir or Remington in a museum setting is one of the most rewarding experiences I have had as a teacher. The studio work, art history and museum field trips I have developed not only meet The Vermont Framework of Standards and The National Art Standards, but enrich and promote the different ways we learn, and recognize that each of us has a variety of skills and talents.”
Gary Matthews, For the past twenty-three years Gary Matthews has taught instrumental music to thousands of young people in the six OCSU Elementary Schools. His present and former students describe him as “extremely encouraging, motivating, and instilling a strong desire to succeed.” His successes are innumerable. Gary is a “Master Teacher” who is respected and held in high esteem by his colleagues, administrators and the community.
Addison Central Supervisory Union honors Sandi Olivo of Middlebury for her significant contribution to arts education in ACSU. As curator of education at the Middlebury College Museum of Art, Sandi has been able to make an outstanding contribution through establishment of the educational programs offered by the museum. Guided tours for students, teacher workshops, teacher resource packets and most especially the Midd-Arts program that brings college students into classrooms in our district have created an exceptional arts education framework that enhances the lives of many children (and adults) in our area.
Sandi Olivo has been an Arts Educator for more than twenty-five years. She holds a BA in Publications and Art from Simmons College and a Certificate in Arts Management from the University of Massachusetts. Joining the Middlebury College Museum of Art staff in 1996, she developed and oversees a school program for grades K-12 including teacher workshops and the production of many teacher resource packets. She also runs the Museum assistants Program, which trains Middlebury College undergraduates and community members as docents to assist with school tours. In addition to her position at the Museum, she has been an instructor in the Teacher Education Program in the January term course Children in the Arts.
For the past three years Sandi has worked with Midd-Arts: Teaching Through the Arts. Midd-Arts is a collaborative effort by the Teacher Education Program, the Center for the Arts, the Middlebury College Museumof Art, and the Addison Central Supervisory Union school district to provide a standards-based arts curriculum, professional development opportunities for teachers who mentor student teachers, classroom training and immersion in the arts for student teachers, resource materials, and learning experiences in the arts for children.
Sandi has also helped implement and organize The Arts Awards Program for Addison County to acknowledge those who have made exceptional contributions to the visual arts in the community, either through their creative talents and achievements or their enthusiastic support. Through this recognition, the Friends of the Art Museum hope to encourage the continued growth and appreciation of the visual arts and to thank those who have demonstrated significant leadership in the field.
Laura Pettibon, has been the Art teacher at Vergennes Elementary School for many years. With only a cart, Laura moves from room to room using resourcefulness and creativity. Mrs. Pettibon’s quite, reflective nature earns respect from students and parents. High expectations and unswerving commitment help children fulfill high expectations. Laura believes all children are artists.
Laura lives in Vergennes with her husband Chris, an architectural designer, son Sam, 15, a student at VUHS, and daughter Annie, a sophomore at Northeastern University. Working on her old house, raising her children, as well as putting her all into her job, has relegated her passion of work in clay and sculpture to the back burner.
Putting on district wide theme-based Arts Festivals at the local high school has stretched her teaching in many ways. An art teacher is always learning. Life is never dull, nor does it have enough hours in the day. Laura also helps coordinate a local student show every year at the Bixby Library in Vergennes, and has an ongoing exhibit for her students’ work in the Post Office. Putting her students work out into the community is rewarding for everyone involved.
William Prue graduated from North Country Union High School in 1989 and went on to Berklee College of Music for the electric bass. Deciding to be a teacher, he transferred to Johnson State College where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education, graduating Cum Laude.
William says that college certainly did not prepare him to teach at five different schools a week: Derby Elementary School, Brighton Elementary School, Holland Elementary School, E Taylor Hatton Elementary School, and Sacred Heart School. One of William’s first teaching activities was to form a marching band, the Kingdom Youth Marching Band, something new to most of these schools. This marching band included students from the four public schools. The band was so well received that the next school year a fund was started for uniforms. William’s bands have been asked to play in community July 4th parades and for many other community events.
Other musical accomplishments have included: composing music suited to students’ strengths; making time for the Beginning Band members to play each week; starting a Beginning Band in the fourth grade at Derby Elementary School, which was a major change there; began a website
(http://prue.hypermart.net) and a newsletter to help keep students and the community updated.
Due to the interest of some of his students, a parent and William transported several students to Newport to play in a joint Newport-Derby Jazz Band, which Jennifer Lawson, of Newport City Elementary School, and William direct. The following year he began after-school Jazz Bands in Derby and Brighton.
William conducted the Festival Band at the 25th Northeastern Vermont Junior High Music Festival in the spring of 2000, working with talented 7th and 8th graders.
In the 2000-2001 school year he co-founded (with Jennifer Lawson again) and conducted (band) the Northeast Kingdom Elementary Music Festival, which brought together students from throughout the district. Many of these students are normally in bands of six or seven other kids, so playing in a band of fifty was a big treat for them.
River Arts of Morrisville is a volunteer arts organization that is working toward a vision of establishing a community arts center. River Arts already is presenting a series of arts classes and performances for the general audience in the Morristown area, many of which take place during evenings and weekends at the school. River Arts began in 2001 to present a variety of arts workshops for adults and children, funded in part by the Vermont Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. The class subjects have ranged through the fine arts, performing arts and traditional crafts. Concert performances have included jazz, country, folk, gospel and Cajun music, and Celtic music and storytelling.
River Arts Board of Directors
Dawn Andrews, Mary Brandt, Larry Gluckman, Joanne Harrison, Brook Hemenway, Charlotte Mondrosch-Folley, Diana Osborn, Fred Rossman, John Rubino, John Sargent, Lauren Stagnitti, and Judith Wrend.
Rivers Arts Mission: Enriching community life through the Arts.
River Arts Goals:
Stephanie Rowe is the St. Johnsbury School school nurse and a parent of three school-aged children who has always had a love and an appreciation for the arts and a desire to instill that love in others. Soon after her oldest child entered school in 1989, she became involved on a committee to plan enrichment programs for the neighborhood school. This role gradually evolved into the enrichment coordinator for all of St. Johnsbury public schools, which included pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. With the funds generated from our PTG fundraisers, we have hosted storytellers, authors, graphic artists, poets, musicians, and dramatic artists. We have hosted Vermont Symphony Orchestra ensembles for the past five years and our students frequently attend school performances sponsored by Catamount Film and Arts. Our 4th and5th grade students have also been the recipients of art lectures and viewing of the Art Gallery housed in the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum.
- Make the Arts Accessible and available to all community members.
- Encourage community members to explore and development their creativity through participation in a wide diversity of art classes, exhibits, performances and special events.
- Stimulate artistic and cultural growth by offering opportunities for and supporting collaborations among artists.
- Facilitate regional cooperation among local and statewide arts and cultural organizations and provide a structure for groups to work together more effectively.
Stephanie also feels it is important for the elementary and middle school students to attend productions by the high school students. They have attended performances by St. Johnsbury Academy music and drama departments as well as the St. Johnsbury Ballet Company. Younger students can then begin to envision their own involvement in these areas when they are exposed to the role modeling provided by older, more accomplished students within their own local school communities.
On a community level, Stephanie served on the Board of Directors for Catamount’s Film and Arts from 1992-1997 and as the chairperson of the Arts in Education Committee from 1994-1997. She also authored and received two grants from the Vermont Arts Council bringing residencies in storytelling and dance to the school district.
While providing enrichment opportunities in the arts is a very important component of education, it is her heartfelt belief that the arts should be viewed as an integral part of the core curriculums in our schools. Creative programs such as art, music, dance, and drama can impact the learning process in effective and positive ways, help children to develop the different talents they may possess and enhance the quality of life for all children.
Jim Samler, Art Teacher at Otter Valley Union High School, has a passion and love for his work. This excitement not only infuses his teaching with a sense of urgency and commitment, but also serves to motivate his students. Jim’s classes are full of life and activity. Jim frequently refers his students to the works of well-known artists by directing their attention to slides, film clips, pictures, reproductions and his own art works. He takes full advantage of technology, including the computer, to expose his students to examples of some of the world’s greatest art. He does this with a zeal that reveals his own pleasure and pride in the ability to create beauty.
Montpelier School District honoree Russell Smith’s passion for the dramatic arts has led him over the past fifteen years to spearhead numerous Central Vermont initiatives and projects to advance community theater arts. His leadership has enabled hundreds, especially children and youth, to enjoy opportunities in developing their abilities in directing, staging and performance!
He served on the school district’s arts curricula review committee, and once helped turn the Middle School gym into a performance hall for a choral and orchestral concert by spending 40 hours hanging theater lighting, then mentoring students in running the lights.
As a member of the Montpelier Theatre Guild board of trustees, he helped put together a written agreement between the Guild and the District to document their long-standing relationship whereby the Guild provides technical assistance in lighting and upgrading the Union Elementary School’s beautiful proscenium-arch theater, and the school provides the Guild with space for rehearsals, performances, and set pieces and props, which the Guild provides to UES teachers for their in-school performances.
He has co-directed several children’s theater productions with as many as 80 youngsters onstage at Union School. In the mid-1990s he helped put together productions where students were mentored in theater arts by adults, which provided valuable learning experiences for as many as 40 youth working behind-the-scenes. Last fall he mentored eight neophyte directors, including two high school students and two aides at Union, in a children’s theater production of How to Eat Like A Child.
At the District’s Middle School, he arranged after-school theater workshops for the students, helped recruit directors for in- and after-school theater, and for five years was the stage manager for the Parent Teacher Organization’s “Mud Season Gala,” a variety show fundraiser for arts and other activities at Main Street.
At Montpelier High School he helped bring back Broadway musicals by persistently encouraging Lorraine DeFelice, the school’s choral music director, to direct the musical Grease. Originally she was to do the music and he was to direct, but he was elected to the school board in the meantime, a world of theater all its own. He did join forces with Lorraine and choreographer Bonnie Duke in the fall of 2000, directing the musical Fame.
In January of this year he was honored by the community for his work with youth, among other community activities, with a two-and-a-half hour tribute at the Barre Opera House featuring songs, dances, and skits from shows he has been involved with in the past 27 years. Because of that history in central Vermont community theater, he is regularly called on by teachers and theater groups to help them find directors, props, costumes, and all sorts of theater resources. He says that’s one of the most fun things to do, because he gets to meet new people and connect them with new friends.
Kimberlee Tokarz not only does a great job with music instruction in grades K-4, she has organized a 3rd and 4th grade chorus and chorus for grades 5-8. Kim pours her enthusiasm into everything that she does. Her love of music is reflected in the outstanding performances that she conducts on a regular basis. Her students respond to her warmth and enthusiasm. Kim is truly a professional.
Kimberlee currently teaches elementary general music K-4, at St. Albans Town Educational Center. This is her tenth year as a music teacher in the public school system. Prior to teaching in St. Albans, she taught elementary general music in Essex Junction and first and second year string classes. At SATEC she also directs a third and fourth grade chorus that meets once a week during school and a fifth through eighth grade chorus that meets twice per week. Some mornings before school you will find her coaching woodwind ensembles and one afternoon a week she leads a staff chorus.
Kimberlee loves instrumental and vocal music. Her major at the University of Vermont (where she received a B.S. in Music Education) was saxophone and she minored in voice. She is the Music Director at the Grace United Methodist Church where she conducts an adult choir and a handchime choir. She plays saxophone with the Williston Town Band and the Williston Wheezer Sitting Parade Band during the summer. For the last several years she was vocalist and second tenor saxophone in a Burlington based swing band and sang with the jazz combo “All That Jazz.” She believes strongly that music unlike many other activities, is a life long endeavor, and one of the few activities where young and old alike can play and sing together. In that vein she served on The Board of Directors for The Association of Concert Bands, Inc., a national group promoting community bands.
Bert Vines has made tremendous contributions to the Arts in the Upper Valley and Oxbow High School in particular! Bert is associated with the school as head of maintenance, but his contributions and involvement far surpass his job description. Bert sets up and runs the sound system for all the Oxbow concerts, all visiting artist programs and the district Arts Festival. As a master electrician, he wired the entire school auditorium to accommodate theater lights. The drama department bought the equipment and Bert donated his time at no charge. Bert is a very accomplished euphonium and trombone player and he volunteers these talents by playing in the band for all the school concerts, playing in the school jazz band (including weekly rehearsals) and playing in the pit for musicals. He frequently comes into music classes to demonstrate instruments and play the virtuosic “Carnival of Venice” on the euphonium. Bert is a fine tenor as well, and played one of the policemen with great flair in a recent production of “Pirates of Penzance”. The hours he has put in supporting the Arts in the Upper Valley are countless at school, in church and in the community but perhaps his greatest contribution is the passion for music and the Arts that he demonstrates on a daily basis.
