2005 VAAE Scholarship Recipients
Students to Pursue the Arts in Post-secondary Education
For the second year, the Vermont Alliance for Arts Education worked in partnership
with the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation to award four scholarships to high
school graduating seniors. This year’s scholarships were awarded to Rutland High
School/Stafford Center’s Alicia L. Ferrell, Gailer School’s Yukio F. McDonough-
Sieben, Brattleboro Union High School’s Lela S. Rosen and North Country Union High
School’s Tonya C. White. Each student will enter the college of their choice in September
to pursue further training in their chosen art form. Please see pages 3 and 4 for
articles and photos of the four scholarship recipients.
Funds to support VAAE Scholarships were raised by the 2004 fall arts education
conference raffle and by a Nonevent Scholarship Fundraiser. Anyone wishing to
contribute to the 2006-2007 Arts Scholarship, please send donations to the VAAE office.
Ferrell, McDonough-Sieben, Rosen and White Receive VAAE Scholarships
Rutland High School graduate, Alicia L. Ferrell was presented
her VAAE/VSAC Scholarship by VAAE Board member
Cathy Archer and Senator Jeffords’ Education
Liaison, Peg Bolgioni. Alicia
plans to attend Champlain College
and major in Graphic Design and
Multimedia.
Graduating from Rutland High
School, Alicia spent much of her last two
years in the Stafford Technical Center’s
Digital Arts Program. Programs at the
Center gave Alicia a new way to explore
her artistic talent, excelling in both
graphic design and illustration. Digital
Arts Instructor Karen Kysar said, “ Alicia
is a talented graphic designer and an
outstanding artist. All of her work is
sophisticated, whether created using pen
and paper or the computer. She has a
wonderful sense of composition, color,
and balance….Her work is as good, if
not better, than many college students I
have worked with.”
Alicia attended the Governor’s Institute
for Information Technology exploring
digital art and software. She has done graphic work for the
Rutland County Youth Council, worked with other students to
design club and/or school brochures and
worked with other youth to design antidrug
and violence television and radio
advertisements. While at Rultand High
School, she was a member of the school’s
art club, participated in the student council
and the Key Club. Believing in having a
well-rounded education, Alicia played soccer
and was a team member of the varsity
snowboarding, hockey, and softball teams.
She was awarded the WSYB Sports Person
of the Year for hockey and received a varsity
letter, as well as, three varsity letters in
softball.
Alicia gave the Stafford Center’s Digital
Art Program high marks. She says, “I
have learned how to have a professional
client relationship and how to deal with
different types of people. Digital arts not
only excited me about my future, but it also
helped me gain important skills and attributes I need in life.
Violist Yukio F. McDonough-Sieben began his studies in
violin at the early age
of four partly due to
his father’s belief that
every educated human
being must also be fluent
in music. Yukio
said he initially studied
violin to learn the
basics about music,
but never gave it up,
and today practices
with more determination
than the day
before. For eight years,
he studied with teacher
David Gusakov, then
in 2001 began studying
with Evelyn Read at the University of Vermont.
Yukio has been a member of the Vermont Youth Orchestra
(VYO) for three years under the baton of Troy Peters, the music
director. He has participated in the VYO Summer Music Festivals,
summer programs at Meadow Mount School of Music in
New York, Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina, and performed
in Mrs. Read’s student recitals in the concert hall at University
of Vermont. Yukio performed his debut solo concert with
the Vermont Youth Orchestra, playing the Bruch violin concerto
No. 1 (first movement), in February 2005 at the Flynn Center for
the Performing Arts in Burlington.
Academics have also been important to Yukio. When at Middlebury
Middle School, Yukio received distinguished math
awards from Johns Hopkins Universtiy Center for Talented
Youth and a Vermont
state award for being
among the highest scoring
participants on the
SAT I reasoning test.
His academic achievements
followed him as
he completed his secondary
studies at the
Gailer School in Shelburne,
Vermont where
he excelled in writing
and mathematics. Head
of School, Ted Graf
wrote, “Yukio possesses
the intelligence, traits
and habits necessary to be a successful college student…”
Yukio plans to further his studies in violin at SUNY at Purchase
this fall.
Lela S. Rosen will enter Hobart William Smith College in
the field of music education this fall. Having a strong tradition
in the arts throughout her life, Lela began singing at the young
age of eight with her father, a children’s performer, singer/songwriter
at places such as Fenway Park and the White House. During
her years at Brattleboro Union High School, Lela
participated in band, chorus, madrigals ensemble, sang with the
Jazz Band, and acted and sang in school musicals. This year,
she played one of the leads,
Hope Harcourt, in the Cole
Porter musical, “Anything
Goes.” She attended the Vermont
Governor’s Institute for
the Arts, Summer Sonatina (a
piano performance camp),
Vermont Jazz Center’s Summer
Program, All-State
Music Festivals, New England
Music Festival and Connecticut
Valley District Music
choruses, jazz choirs and concert
bands and took private
voice and piano lessons.
Stephen Rice, Brattleboro
UHS Music Department
Head/Director of Bands
says, “ Lela has achieved
extremely high levels of
performance. Her greatest
strength and passion
is her singing voice.” He
goes on to say, “In all of
her music making, Lela
is first and foremost
interested in expressive
and excellence performance.
Her music is sincere
and soulful.”
Lela has also been
active in other school
activities including student
council, and the
National Honor Society. She gives back to her community by
serving as a camp counselor at the Bonnyvale Environment
Education Center and worked with children after school
through the YMCA’s ASPIRE program at the local elementary
schools. She has traveled extensively with her family, on school
trips and on her own to locations as China, England and
Canada. In Lela’s words, “ I thrive on involvement and participation
in a multitude of activities. It is who I am.”
Lela with her parents, Gary and Mary
Rosen, and brother, Penn and sister,
Eliza.
Student Visual Artist,
Tonya C. White will enter
the prestigious Savannah
College of Art and Design
in September. Tonya plans
to study a variety of arts
including drawing and
painting, dance and theater.
Graduating from North
Country Union High
School, Tonya studied with
art educator Rita Braun for
four years. She received
numerous awards and honors
from the Art Department
including the “Leonardo De Vinci Award
for three years which was given to students
who achieved a high level of excellence in
their work, maintained a disciplined work
ethic and demonstrated a high degree of
understanding visual concepts. Tonya also
won community and statewide art honors
including the Newport VFW Ladies Auxiliary
Patriotic Art Contest this year, and exhibited
at the annual Jeffords Art Exhibit Competition.
She also designed winning posters
advertising this years’ Variety Show
and North Country Dance Concert.
Volunteering her artistic skills is
also important to Tonya. She
donated time to various projects
involving less fortunate families and
children through the Art Department,
Upward Bound and National
Honor Society. Braun wrote, “She
(Tonya) was an excellent student overall and great to teach.”
English teacher, Gary Johnson confirmed Braun’s statement,
“Tonya is among the top 5% of the students that I have had in
recent years.” Another teacher, Cheri Skurdall was brought to
tears when her dance student, Tonya, presented her with a wire
sculpture of a dancer at the end of the year. A young lady of
many artistic talents, Tonya danced, taught dance to
younger students, designed dance costumes and
posters, was Art Editor of the NCUHS school
newspaper, Costume Manager for several drama
productions and had a lead role in the 2005
NCUHS Drama that won a Vermont One-Act Play
Festival Regional competition in Montpelier.
Tonya says, “I have always loved creating art
and where I still have other passions such as writing,
dance, and theatre, art has always come first
for me.”
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