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June 23, 2005
 
Eighty High School Juniors to Attend Governor's School for the Arts at MU
 
by HNN Staff
 
Huntington (HNN) – Eighty rising high school juniors from throughout West Virginia will spend three weeks on Marshall University's Huntington campus next month, participating in the 2005 West Virginia Governor's School for the Arts.
 
The residential program, which runs July 3-23, 2005, provides individual and in-depth group instruction in the arts for rising juniors living in and attending high school in West Virginia. It has taken place the past two years at West Virginia University, and last was at Marshall in 1999 and 2000. It will continue at MU through 2007.
 
Dr. Larry Stickler, assistant dean of Marshall's College of Fine Arts, is dean of the School for the Arts. He also served as dean in 1999 and 2000. "The School for the Arts is an exciting time for the students," Stickler said. "It's a chance for them to be around other students from the state who share a love for the arts. They'll get to know each other, do some networking among themselves, and later they'll see each other at all-state groups or maybe at the Governor's Honors Academy."
 
The students auditioned for the school in six artistic areas in January at South Charleston High School and in February at East Fairmont High School. The areas are instrumental music, vocal music, theater, dance, visual arts and creative writing.
 
Skilled artists/teachers will work with students who demonstrate potential in those areas. Music professor Steven Lawson and theatre professor Gene Anthony from Marshall were selected to teach in the school. Stickler said the Governor's School for the Arts attempts to broaden the students' understanding of the arts through interdisciplinary courses focusing on common elements in the arts disciplines. Classes, special programming and an extended field trip are among the activities scheduled. The destination for the field trip will be announced during the school's opening ceremony, which is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. Sunday, July 3, 2005 at the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center.
 
Expected to attend the ceremony are Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary for Education and the Arts in West Virginia; Jay Cole, Deputy Secretary with the Department of Education and the Arts; and Sherry Keffer, Coordinator of Gifted Education and the Governor's Schools.
 
The Governor's School for the Arts was initiated through the efforts of former West Virginia First Lady Maestra Rachael Worby. Fairmont State College was selected as the host site for the first five years (1994-1998). Two-year stints at Marshall, West Liberty College and WVU followed. "It's great just seeing the kids grow, seeing them have the opportunity to enjoy the arts and grow within that three-week period," Stickler said. "They don't go to classes only in their areas. If their area is dance, they might have that class in the morning, then go to one of the other areas in the afternoon. The receive a little touch of it all."
 
The 80 students who will attend the West Virginia School for the Arts are listed at http://www.wvgovschools.org/GSAClassof2005.htm. The tentative daily schedule of events is available by calling Cindy Stickler, assistant to the dean of the Governor's School for the Arts, at (304) 696-3686. Larry Stickler may be reached at (304) 696-2963.