Strides by Superintendent Slaughter

Anna ISD Fine Arts Programs Continue to Soar and Expand

Anna ISD believes that the arts play an important role in education and in the development of our students. I have always believed that Anna ISD has one of the best fine art programs in Texas! Anna students have a variety of fine art opportunities to excel in. As I walk our campuses and attend the various events hosted by our fine arts teachers, it is obvious that our students are extremely talented and are being taught well. I would like to recognize some of our high school students and their great accomplishments in our fine arts programs.

In March, AHS art students participated in the Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) in Dallas, Texas. Several students received 4's, which is the highest score possible and given for their extraordinary artwork. We are especially excited for Katie Kemp, as her painting advanced to the state level. She will travel to San Antonio on April 22 for the State VASE Event.

This past Saturday, our theater arts students competed in the One-Act Play Area contest at Denison High School. The cast and crew advanced to the Regional competition. In addition, Andrew Shute was named “Outstanding Male Actor”. They did a phenomenal job and represented Anna superbly.  The Regional competition will be held at Texas A&M Commerce later this month.

The AHS Band has had an exceptional year. In the fall competition, our marching band received all ones (which is the highest score possible) for their performance. Under the UIL’s rotating competition schedule, next year our marching band will have the opportunity to compete for the state title. We are excited to see the performance they will select and to see how far they will advance. We have also had several concert band students advance to the state competition. Dylan Stepherson advanced to the Association of Texas Small School Bands All-State Jazz Band. The following students have advanced to the Texas State Solo & Ensemble Contest:

Devon Achenbach, Johnny Alvarado, Haley Anderson, Timothy Arellano, Noah Bert, Sebastian Boyer, Amanda Callahan, Evan Callahan, Austin Casada, Sayde Cummings, Madison Davis, Brenda DeSantiago, Samantha Divers, Dustin Drayer, Ben Drazil, Cassandra Erbynn, Gabrielle Fornoff, Dillon Garcia, Joe Garcia, Juanita Govea, Ariana Guillermo, Sean Henricks, Ryan Hoverson, Nolan Hutchins, Preston Isham, Darian Jones, Andre Joyce, Joel Lopez, Ashlynn Love, Sydney May, Reid McGowan, Cintia Medina, Dylan Morgan, Freddy Perez, Joshua Phakvang, Jonah Parker, Jairo Rubio, Omar Rubio, Heidi Sanders, Estrella Santibanez, Joe Sarro, Keira Schmidt, Riley Self, Alexis Smith, Dylan Stepherson, Tatum Wolf, Trevor Wolf, and Jacob Woodard

I am excited to announce that our Fine Arts program is expanding this upcoming school year, with two new opportunities for our students. We are in the process of adding color guard, which will add to the artistic performance of our marching band. We will also offer choir to our middle and high school and are currently in the process of interviewing candidates for a choir director.

I would like to invite you to see our students perform in their different fine art events. Please view the campus calendars for future dates and times of performances. My hope is that our students will take every opportunity to explore Anna’s different fine arts programs to see if they might find a new avenue to express themselves.