Creativity in the Time of COVID-March 27, 2021

With Spring Break behind us, we’re back into the swing of things and moving full speed ahead to the end of the school year.

All of our departments are a flurry of creation as each prepares for spring and end-of-year events. While we are far from being back to normal, there is optimism in the air as inspiration, innovation, and imagination begin to supplant some of the dread and stagnancy of this pandemic time.

VPA Animators Win National Awards

Congratulations to Maren Timpe and Tallulah Bonifeld on the achievement of earning national medals in the 2021 Scholastic Arts and Writings Awards. The award puts the film (and students) in the TOP 1 percent of all entries received this year to the competition.

The winning piece, “Empty Nest,” won a Gold Medal and American Visions Medal in the Film and Animation category. Ms. Lori Burton was the supervising teacher and won a teacher award for the honor.

The film was completed in 2020 as a collaboration with children’s book author and illustrator Ethan Long, a classmate of Ms. Burton’s from Ringling College of Art + Design. Long approached Ms. Burton in 2019 hoping to collaborate with her students in setting the page to motion.

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VPA Singers Selected to All-State Choir

In a year mostly bereft of live singing performances, we are so proud that Mr. Alex Zickafoose has prepared his students for success in being selected nonetheless for the 2020-21 All State Ensemble.

Senior Jailyn Gentile was selected for the SSAA (women’s) chorus, and sophomore Genesis Gutierrez was selected for the high school mixed chorus. In normal years, this would be celebrated with a major concert featuring hundreds of selected students throughout the state and honoring All State winners at a school board meeting.

This year, the recognition will be a virtual one on May 4.

Filming for “Last Rung on the Ladder” in Progress

After months of laboring through pre-production activities, VPA Film students are in production for “Last Rung on the Ladder,” their “Dollar Baby” project, which is an adaptation of blockbuster writer Stephen King’s short story.

The months leading up to this weekend have been full of hard work, from writing a screenplay, casting the characters, scouting locations, securing props (including a casket and a Land Rover!), managing calendars, and finalizing contracts.

While Hollywood’s image of “Tinsel Town” lends credibility to notions of glamour, Film students are earning a practical education of all the preparation required for a project of this scope, skills that will give them a leg up as they apply for highly competitive film programs at the post-secondary level.