November, 2005 From President Gary Graff It’s Time to Educate Decision Makers, Teachers Happy Holidays! As we enter this holiday season, I would like to take this opportunity to wish you and yours the very healthiest and happiest of times. As this is my first newsletter, let me extend my thanks to Beverly Blanchette for her outstanding leadership during the past two years. Her goal of opening communications has led to many advances for theatre arts education not only here in the state of Florida, but around the country. During my tenure as President, I want to extend what Beverly has started. Now that we have opened communication, we must take the next step: FACE TO FACE. Now is the time for you to meet the decisions makers both at your school site and in your district. It is always wonderful to tell them of your accomplishments at a district or state festival, but you also need to let them know that what you do is an ongoing process. The key word being process. We are all educators and you need to educate your decision makers about the process. Invite your principal or school board member to a rehearsal. Allow them to see the working on the piece. Sit down not just with your Language Arts faculty, but also with members of other departments. Let the Math faculty see that in stagecraft the students are using geometry and trigonometry. Science needs to see that Lighting Design includes the physics of light. In Theatre History you make the social and historical connections that make the connection for the Social Studies department. And of course let everyone know about all of the FCAT reading skills the students use when they have to complete a script analysis. As we have been saying for years, we do all of these every day. It is time to let everyone know. By meeting with them FACE TO FACE, we will have a bigger impact. I look forward to talking and working with all of you during my term. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any thoughts you may have. Gary   October, 2005 Dear FATE members, As my term as your president winds down, I wish to thank all of you for your continued membership and support of theatre arts education. Over the years, FATE has made great strides in working with other arts organizations in a combined effort to ensure that every child in our state receives a complete arts education. We still have a long road ahead of us, but with your help we just may reach our goal! My thanks to our FATE board members who have led our various committe charges. A special thanks to our Executive Director, Murray Mintz, for leading us in the right direction, representing us at multiple meetings for our cause, and communicating with us so successfully. My goal as president two years ago was to "communicate" and with Murray at the helm, we have done just that. I will continue to collect testimonials from your former students who can recall personal stories of their successes reached because of the skills they learned in your classrooms. Please email them to me at bblanchette@adelphia.net. I hope to publish these wth the help of ACE (Arts for a Complete Education). I believe if these stories are heard by the right people, we may be able to SAVE THE ARTS once and for all! My wishes for your continued membership and support as FATE's new president, Gary Graff, takes the helm. We will be in good hands as we move farther into the 21st century where the arts will be in every school for every child! Sincerely, Beverly Blanchette June, 2005 From the President Share Your Success Stories ... Happy Summer to All! All of us here at FATE hope you are having a relaxing summer as you gear up for the start of another school year! In your time for reflection, perhaps you can remember some personal stories of students who have been affected by their theatre arts education. Do you know of students who came to school just to be able to attend that after-school play rehearsal? How about those who received college scholarships to study theatre? Anyone who made a career choice based upon the positive energy received in your classroom? Someone who saw grades or test scores improve due to a new-found interest in school? Anyone who felt better about themselves, overcame hardships, or steered away from the wrong crowd or drugs due to their love of the arts? If you can recall these personal stories, would you take a few minutes to write them down and send them to us care of my email address (bblanchette@adelphia.net) ? You could also ask your students to write. Please add a statement and signature giving us permission to pass on or publish the letters. FATE, along with ACE (Arts for a Complete Education), is collecting testimonials with a plan to send them to those who make decisions about arts education in our state, and to post them on the ACE web site, www.faae.org. We believe that with your help, we can make a difference. Enjoy your summer. I hope to see you this October in Clearwater for our annual conference! Sincerely, Beverly Blanchette FATE President   April 2005 From the President Dear FATE Members and Friends, GOOD NEWS! Your letters, emails, and calls to legislators may be working! It has been reported that the governor's budget for the arts is finally approaching what it was in the 2003 fiscal year. With your help and the efforts of Florida's Cultural Alliance, we seem to be making some headway. However, we must not end our efforts since this budget is for "the arts" and not specifically: arts education. We must continue to advocate for what we believe: that every child in Florida is entitled to a well-rounded education--one that includes the arts. We must educate our principals, parents, school board members, and legislators to understand that the arts are CORE CURRICULUM. We must quote from statistics that prove that ARTS EDUCATION IMPROVES TEST SCORES and more importantly: KEEPS KIDS IN SCHOOL! To learn more about how you can help this cause, go to the ACE (Arts for a Complete Education) website: www.faae.org and the links on the front page to help you talk the talk so those in position of power will listen. To better understand how the class-size amendment has caused this turn of events against arts education, go to Palmbeachpost.com, then Opinion, then Editorials, and: "Jeb Punishing Schools to Repeal Class-Size Law" (Sunday, January 30, 2005). This editorial is a quick reference you may use to educate your fellow voters. This problem is not just our problem: it is a problem for every taxpayer. Finally, if you are not already a member of FATE, please join today by contacting our Executive Director, Murray Mintz (link on fatefirst.org), TODAY! Also reserve October 13-16 for our annual FATE Conference and join us for a weekend of activities that will help you become not only a better educator, but an employed educator! Please remember that we are your voice. We can do more with you, than without you. Break a leg in all of your endeavors! Sincerely, Beverly Blanchette FATE President February, 2005 From the President Good News -- Our Efforts Bring Results! Your letters, emails, and calls to legislators may be working! It has been reported that the governor's proposed budget for the arts is finally approaching what it was in the 2003 fiscal year. With your help and the efforts of Florida's Cultural Alliance, we seem to be making some headway. Of course, it must survive and be passed by the legislators. However, we must not end our efforts since this budget is for "the arts" and not specifically: arts education. We must continue to advocate for what we believe: that every child in Florida is entitled to a well-rounded education--one that includes the arts. We must educate our principals, parents, school board members, and legislators to understand that the arts are CORE CURRICULUM. We must quote from statistics that prove that ARTS EDUCATION IMPROVES TEST SCORES and more importantly: KEEPS KIDS IN SCHOOL! To learn more about how you can help this cause, go to the ACE (Arts for a Complete Education) web site: www.faae.org and the links on the front page to help you talk the talk so those in position of power will listen. To better understand how the class-size amendment has caused this turn of events against arts education, go to Palmbeachpost.com, then Opinion, then Editorials, and: "Jeb Punishing Schools to Repeal Class-Size Law" (Sunday, January 30, 2005). This editorial is a quick reference you may use to educate your fellow voters. This problem is not just our problem: it is a problem that every taxpayer should know about. Also reserve October 13-16 for our annual FATE Conference and join us for a weekend of activities that will help you become not only a better educator, but an employed educator! Please remember that we are your voice. We can do more with you, than without you. Break a leg in all of your endeavors! December, 2004 From the President ‘We Must Educate and Advocate’ Our 2004 “FATE is your Silver Lining” conference in Clearwater was a huge success. Hurricanes couldn't even keep us away! It was a wonderful time to share experiences, participate in workshops, and get to know each other. One message resounded throughout the weekend: Advocacy! We must do all we can to save our programs, theatre arts education and, most importantly, our students! If you didn't read the November issue of NEA Today, I suggest you do. The cover story, “Curtain Call” by Kristen Loschert is worth reading and sharing with your school administrators and board members. As stated there, students who study the arts score, on average, 40 to 60 points higher on the verbal portion of the SAT and 15 to 40 points higher on the math portion.” With statistics like this, why is your program being cut?! Why are your students being pulled from your class to take remedial English or math? It would seem that your class is the one they need! Let ’s stay together and fight together – we must educate and advocate. It is up to every one of us to do our part to save theatre arts education in Florida! Beverly Blanchette FATE President July, 2004 From the President Congratulations FATE Members! With over 200 members, we are now stronger than ever! What a wonderful way to celebrate our upcoming 25th anniversary! The numbers show that we teachers are ready to join forces to save theatre arts education in Florida! Bravo! Please spread the word to your theatre colleagues about everything FATE has to offer. Let ’s build our team. We must come together to educate our administrators, school board members and legislators. YOU must educate them. To do so, stay informed so that you can quote the statistics that prove that arts education improves test scores! Go to the links on our FATE website. Learn more about important tools you can use to convince your superiors that your class is important! Brainstorm. What can YOU do to bring attention to the good work of your students? What can YOU do to prove your kids NEED theatre arts? How many of your students stay in school because of YOUR program? Enjoy your summer, but in those free moments, think about what you can do to save the arts – which, in the long run, may mean YOUR JOB! Most importantly: VOTE. Learn more about those in political office who may either help or hurt arts education. Finally, plan to join us at our 25th Anniversary conference in Clearwater. Remember that FATE is “your silver lining!” You owe it to yourself, and your students, to attend. Let us help you. My best wishes for a safe, restful summer. Beverly Blanchette FATE President May, 2004 From the President Hang in There! It’s Almost Over! Congratulations to all for completing another school year! I know you are all extremely busy as we wind down with exams, awards and graduations. Hang in there! Here’s a reminder to all FATE Committee Chairs to communicate with your members and wrap up your specific charges. Please prepare a report to be presented at our June 17 Executive Committee meeting and send it to Murray Mintz. Please continue to communicate with your parents, administrators, school board members and legislators. Do whatever you can to help us save arts education in Florida. We have had some success with legislators recently regarding the proposed PE bill. We must continue to work together – every letter and phone call counts. Best wishes for a restful summer. Beverly Blanchette FATE President March, 2004 From the President It’s Time to Re-energize and Collaborate with Our Peers Your 12th grade students are expressing their inevitable “senioritis”. FCAT pressure istaking its toll on your underclassmen. You feel like summer won’t come soon enough. BUT NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO RELAX. Too many arts programs are being cut. Too many arts teachers are losing their jobs. Now is the time to re-energize and gear up to secure your job. With legislative budget cuts affecting all of us, you’ve got to find creative ways to prove your worth on campus. As I have said, communication is the key. Only you can let others know what you are doing. Be sure your principal knows about your good works outside the classroom and the creative activities in your class that support the academics. This might be a good time to collaborate with your academic peers. Find ways to involve them in your productions. A helpful study guide to your play might encourage them to help you build your audience. Why not choose next year’s plays to support what they do in their classrooms? As busy (and tired) as we all are, we need to start saying “YES!” when asked to chaperone a field trip or prom, to organize the school talent show, or to help amplify or light an assembly. Although we may not receive a financial supplement for these extra duties, the reward could come in the shape of job security. As always, continue to involve your local school board members and politicians. Get to know them and allow them to get to know you and your students. Finally, make plans now to attend FATE Conference ’04 in Clearwater October 14 – 16. Let’s come together to save theatre arts education in Florida! Sincerely, Beverly Blanchette FATE President January, 2004 From the President              Communication is the Key to Growth and Job Security Happy New Year!   We wish you a wonderful 2004, and encourage you to remain positive in this time of budget cuts and crowded classrooms.   Remember that theatre in your classroom serves as dropout prevention for many students.   It is in YOUR classroom where they feel accepted and encouraged to succeed.   You build their appreciation for the arts, the world around them, and each other. We must work together to keep theatre in our schools through COMMUNICATION.   You can do your part by communicating with your students, their parents, your community, school board leaders and state legislators.   ENGAGE them in what you do.   Invite them to PARTICIPATE in the process.   Through participation they gain appreciation. SPREAD THE WORD about what you do, the plays you produce, and the awards your students have won.   Let your community, the press and your administrators know about your good work.   Let your administrators know you support them - they will, in turn, support you. Please feel free to contact me or Executive Director Murray Mintz if there is anything FATE can do for you.