Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/1045613
OCTOBER 31-NOVEMBER 6, 2018 UCW 25 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Hope Mills News & Views EVENTS Stovall seeks to promote art education as teacher of year by EARL VAUGHAN JR. As Cumberland County's newest teacher of the year, Amy Stovall of Gray's Creek High School hopes to use the platform she's been given to help spread awareness for arts education and the important role it can play in developing the total student. Stovall, who teaches vocal music and choir at Gray's Creek, was named the county's teacher of the year at a ban- quet in mid-October. A native of Louisiana, a con- nection with the military first brought her to Fayetteville. After starting her education at Louisiana State and Austin Peay, she earned a bachelor of music education at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and followed it up in 2014 with a master's in the same field. It was during her college years that she first felt a calling to become a teacher. She grew up around music; she was the daughter of an Elvis impersonator who made money on the side during his college years with his act. Stovall's grandmother played piano, and Amy remembers taking piano lessons off and on from the time she was 8 years old. She began teaching at Lumberton Junior High School, spent three years at Scotland High School and has been at Gray's Creek for the past 10 years. She's mainly taught vocal music and choir. This year, she's teaching advanced placement music theory for the first time. She also helps out with the school's band and theater pro- grams, working with the school's theater teacher to put on a full- scale musical every spring. Stovall admitted she was surprised when she learned she was a candidate for teacher of the year. "A lot of the messages of congratulations that came to me were from fellow art educa- tors who said, "We're just so thrilled not just that you got it but that an arts educator got it,'' she said. She said it's hard for people who don't teach in the arts to understand or see that arts teachers have a detailed curriculum just like other academic teachers. "I think there's a miscon- ception that we sit in our classrooms in a circle and sing cute songs,'' she said. She fears many people see arts-oriented classes like hers as little more than places where the teach- ers are glorified babysitters. She said that's never been the perception of her peers of her classes at Gray's Creek. "I really feel like my kids get a pretty good educa- tion in history, in cultural awareness, mathematics and physics,'' she said. "We talk about the properties of sound also. We put all those frames of reference into the lesson, into the things that we sing. We're not just learning notes and rhythm.'' In addition to learning, Stovall hopes the young people in her classes are also growing and expand- ing their minds in areas that will help them in what- ever field they might try to pursue. "This is going to translate into their adult life, when they're working with people in the real-world settings,'' she said. "It's really important that these kids have their imaginations stirred. "Their brains need time to imagine, create and play, otherwise we're just spitting out kids who can pass tests. What are they going to do with that knowl- edge? If they aren't imagining and creating now, when they are young, they are going to become sci- entists who don't know how to invent anything.'' That's why Stovall feels an obligation to use the platform and voice she's been given as teacher of the year, even if it's just local, to speak out about the importance of music and arts education. "We need equity in arts funding,'' she said. "We need to protect our arts teachers' jobs. Funding is a hard issue, and the arts are usually the first thing to get cut.'' She fears cutting arts positions eliminates an essential piece of education for children. She hopes to use her voice to bring awareness to the impor- tance of arts education, what its needs are and how it benefits students. "To me, it's important that I'm standing here being the voice of my fellow music and arts educa- tors,'' she said. Applications due in November for Hope Mills Christmas parade by EARL VAUGHAN JR. While Hope Mills residents may still be debating what costumes to wear for Halloween, it's already time to start entertaining thoughts about the town's annual Christmas parade. This year's event, scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Dec. 1, has an application process that's already begun. The deadline for receiving applications from any organi- zation or business interested in being a part of the parade is Nov. 19. Forms can be picked up at the recre- ation department's temporary headquar- ters in Hope Mills Town Hall or down- loaded at www.townofhopemills.com. Applications have to be turned in just under two weeks before the parade is held to allow time to review each one and to set the parade lineup and deal with all the logistics involved, said Kasey Ivey, head of senior programs for the town of Hope Mills. Ivey said there have been some minor changes in the rules for this year's parade. Previously, stopping during the parade was pro- hibited to avoid creating gaps in the parade lineup. A new policy has been added that allows individual units to stop if they feel the need to for an unspeci- fied safety reason. Spectators are encouraged to arrive early where possible so they can find parking along the parade route and to get to adequate seating for themselves and everyone in their party. Another parade rule still in place is that no one will be allowed to throw candy into the crowd from any float or other unit in the parade. Ivey said this is to prevent the possi- bility of children running into the path of parade units to retrieve candy. Businesses or organizations that have candy or material they'd like to distribute during the parade will be allowed to have people on foot handing it out as they pass by the crowd on the street. A precaution for floats requires them to have a safety hold or side railings for all riders on the float. Also, Ivey said anyone driving a vehicle that is in the parade or pulling a float must be 18 years of age. Even though Election Day will have passed, political campaigning along the parade route is not permitted. Everyone is reminded that Santa-themed entries are not permitted because, according to the application form, "the real Santa Claus has agreed to participate.'' Lineup for the parade begins at 1 p.m., judging of floats at 2:15 p.m. and roll call at 2:30 p.m. Contact Ivey at kivey@townofhopemills.com or Maxey Dove at 910-426-4108 with specific ques- tions about parade entries. Questions can also be answered via the recreation department's Facebook page, Hope Mills Parks and Recreation. If anyone needs to get answers face-to-face, the parks and recreation offices remain closed due to damage from Hurricane Florence. Ivey said they have relocated to temporary headquarters in Town Hall on Rockfish Road. Visit the front reception desk at Town Hall during normal business hours. Amy Stovall (center) stands with husband Tommy (left) and Dr. Marvin Connelly Jr. (right), superintendent of Cumberland County Schools. Hope Mills Christmas Parade DEC. 1, 3 P.M.