Seussical Jr Closes
Last month the VPA's production of Seussical JR played to over 1500 audience members. 100 children participated in the two casts and dozens more students were involved on the tech crew and production team. Over 1500 volunteer hours were donated by families and production team members to make the production WILDLY successful. The costumes were brilliant, the set magical, the blocking and staging perfection and then best of all our children are FANTASTIC!!! Their musical skill and ability to capture a character from their imagination and translate it to an audience is truly astonishing. They say it takes a village to raise a child...and within our VPA families and Sherwood community we have an extraordinary village.
The VPA has grown from a foundation that was created to help fund and support a flagging high school choir program to an organization that offers seven children's choirs, an adult choir, a strings program and a musical theater program that involves hundreds of children in productions each year. The VPA has funded over $125,000 in teacher grants in the greater Sherwood community and student scholarships in the past 12 years. As for the initial hope to inspire and encourage support for a failing choir program with approximately 20 students at the high school in 2005 and no permanent director...the high school now has a legacy teacher in choir director, Kathy Shuckerow, who is in her 10th year of service at the high school. Mrs Shuckerow has 3 award winning choirs with over 150 students involved. With the encouragement and vision of principal Ken Bell, the high school also re-instated annual spring musicals four years ago.
So to the "village" who is not only helping raise today's children, but has built a future filled with promise and opportunities for tomorrow's...THANK YOU!! To list each of you who have been a part of the journey would be impossible...too many parents, students, businesses, city officials, city staff, school district administrators and staff, and community members who wanted to help build something lasting and great. Thank you again for your support, vision, labor, and love for the children, community, and the future. The reality has actually exceeded the dream!!