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Arts program wants to grow

Tarpon Springs High hopes to expand its offerings into a countywide magnet program.

By ELENA LESLEY, Times Staff Writer
Published December 23, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Jim Damaske | Times (2000)] "This will give kids the skills they need in a digital world," Tarpon Springs band director Kevin Ford says of the proposed magnet.

TARPON SPRINGS - Quality art stems from innovation.

"When you play a piece of music, you need to make individual decisions," said Kevin Ford, director of the Leadership and Music Conservatory at Tarpon Springs High School. "You need to bring something new to keep it fresh."

And while such creative thinking skills make better artists, they also mold more confident students and leaders, Ford said. High schoolers who participate in the arts are more likely to graduate, have higher GPAs and take on leadership roles in the community, he and others have noticed.

That's why Tarpon Springs High wants to expand its offerings, creating a districtwide magnet program fusing the arts, leadership and technology.

"This will give kids the skills they need in a digital world," Ford said.

Principal Kent Vermeer said he hopes Pinellas County school administrators will approve Tarpon Springs High's magnet proposal soon so organizers can start seeking grants and corporate sponsors.

Tarpon Springs city commissioners have gone on record supporting the proposal.

"There's not an arts program this far north in the county, so this would serve a lot of students," City Commissioner Robin Saenger said.

A few years ago, Saenger had an apprentice at her art studio who had to get up before dawn to catch a bus to the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg. And he didn't get home, she said, until after dark.

Establishing a program at Tarpon Springs focused on leadership, the arts and technology also would enhance the school, which already offers specialized programs in veterinary science and the culinary arts.

"These kinds of specialized programs are really helping the students find their place in the world because they're more forward-thinking programs," Saenger said. "I think it's a natural fit."

If all goes well, the proposed new program could start in the fall of 2008, Vermeer said.

"We want to teach kids the process for success," he said. The arts program "can help prepare them for any role."

The magnet curriculum would build off the school's current strengths as well as expand to incorporate more forms of artistic expression. School leaders have already seen the impact such courses can make on students' lives.

Over the last decade, Ford has transformed the school band from a sparse class of seven students to a nationally recognized ensemble of 130. Among its many honors, the band has been crowned the Division AA Bands of America National Champions five of the last seven years. A cover story on Ford's work appeared in November's issue of School Band and Orchestra magazine.

"Everywhere I go throughout the country, people know Tarpon Springs," Vermeer said. "They know us for our music program."

Much of that success Ford attributes to responsible, committed students and the leadership skills they've learned through music. When the Leadership and Music Conservatory was established about seven years ago as an attractor program, Ford began requiring music students to take an 18-week leadership course.

Through that course, students are introduced to guest speakers from different backgrounds. Some are musicians; others may be doctors or lawyers who pursue the arts in their spare time.

"We don't expect them all to be music majors," Vermeer said of conservatory students. "There are plenty of successful people who play an instrument."

The magnet program, which would be dubbed Tarpon Springs Conservatory for the Arts, would offer not only instrumental music, but also drama, visual arts, chorus and dance. Magnet students would take core academic classes with the general student population and benefit from the latest technology - such as digital music stands - in their creative classes.

"Successful people are always looking for the next step," Ford said. "This could take us to a whole new level."

Elena Lesley can be reached at elesley@sptimes.com or 727 445-4167.

[Last modified December 22, 2007, 21:11:03]