drug use, higher self-confidence, and
increased community engagement,
among others.
Schools that have seen these results
firsthand have only invested more in
what they see as a vital part to the
educational environment.
At Mitty, students are required
to take at least two semesters of a
performing or visual art class, though
students frequently end up taking far
more. The school, which has built
a new theater and a dance studio
in recent years, operates under an
eight-period schedule, as opposed to the
typical six, allowing students to explore
arts offerings without feeling the need to
sacrifice core academic classes. This level
of accommodation and encouragement
inspires students to discover and seriously
pursue artistic interests.
64 South Bay Accent
For Jinh-Hee Lee, another Mitty senior,
singing was always thought of simply as an
extracurricular activity. “It was the little fun
thing I would do on the side,” she says. “But
now it’s just my passion.”
Lee took AP Music Theory last year and
is a part of the musical theater program and
three different choir ensembles on campus.
In college, she is hoping to double major in
vocal performance and applied mathematics.
Lee says she never would have imagined
she’d seriously consider singing as a career
possibility, but at schools like Mitty, students
are given the resources and support
to see the arts as legitimate career option.
For Conor Sherry, a two-time state
champion with Mitty’s speech team and
a member of the school’s sketch comedy
team, classes like Drama 3 help prepare
students for the long and uniquely complicated
process of applying to the top arts
conservatories in the nation. After school,
he was among the many students asking the
Broadway performer Tripp career questions.
Harker School
winter concert
A Harker
School
student
creates in
art class.
Flores sees the arts as a way to teach
students how to take risks and handle
the failure that might come as a result.
STATE of the ARTS
COURTESY OF THE HARKER SCHOOL(2); OPPOSITE FROM TOP:
STILL LIGHT STUDIOS; COURTESY OF PINEWOOD SCHOOL