The Full Story: 15th Spring Arts Festival Will Celebrate Ancient Egypt.

For the past fifteen years, organizers for Cultural Crossroads’ annual Spring Arts Festival have included the celebration of various cultures both foreign and domestic. This year’s festival will focus on the art and culture of ancient Egypt. “Pharaoh’s Favorites” is the theme for this year’s festival slated for April 23-25th in Minden at ‘the farm.’ Special exhibits and activities will include a maze in search of King Tut’s tomb as well as an archeological dig for Egyptian treasures. And children will be encouraged to come in costume for a special costume contest worth money and prizes.

Youngsters will be encouraged to enter their art and poetry for competition in this area’s largest art show for children ages K-12. Handmade crafts will also be included for competition. Children interested in entering their creations for competition may enter up to three pieces of art, crafts or poetry. There is no entry fee. Ribbons and medals will be awarded the winners in each age division and each category. Nearly 200 children took home ribbons and medals at last year’s festival. All winning entries in art, crafts and poetry will count as valuable points towards the “Most Talented School” award. Entry forms will be available for pick at The Children’s Center beginning March 1st. Julie Vogel is the chairperson for this event and she may be reached at The Children’s Center at 318 377-0319.

The Great Talent Search will once again showcase the talent of parish children in the largest on stage competition in search of the “Most Talented School” and the “Most Talented Student.” Last year Richardson Elementary School took the honors of “Most Talented Elementary School” for the third year in a row. Minden High won “Most Talented High School” while Webster Junior High won “Most Talented Junior High School.” “Richardson Elementary will be the ones to beat,” states festival Chairperson, Chris Broussard. “Richardson Elementary has won more times than any other school in the parish. “They sponsor their own in house talent show prior to the festival and their art entries have always pushed them ahead of other schools. They were treated to special Arts In Education “We want to be Authors” activity this past month as part of their winnings. Their newly published book entitle “Believe” will be released for sale to the public at the festival in April.

Last year’s “Most Talented Student,” Janiece Roberts from Webster Junior High wowed the crowd with her ballet performance while Collin Jenkins from Shongaloo danced his way to a standing ovation and third place honors. First place honors went to another dance group that stunned the crowd with their precision. Abby Reynolds, Madeline Couch, Jordan Lary brought back top honors to Central Elementary School. And Holly Maynard’s second place honors put Harper Elementary School in the running for “Most Talented School.” But it was all the winning art entries that gave Richardson the lead over Harper.

The Great Talent Search will be held all day Saturday, April 25th. Open auditions for the opportunity to be included in the more than 35 performances will take place during the month of March. Details about the competition will be released to every student in Webster Parish later this month. Open auditions are expected to be held in each section of the parish so that every student will have an opportunity to present their talent. Points in the art, poetry and craft division as well as the performing arts division are combined to find the “Most Talented” in our parish. There is no entry fee for any of the various categories. Professional judges from outside the parish are contracted each year to provide fair and impartial results.
Ejay Colvin and Angelique Feaster are co chairing this event and can be reached at 318 518-4176 or 318 745-2787 respectively.

The movie industry has had such an impact on our area that a new program will be introduced to the various elementary schools in the area. Cultural Crossroads and the Robinson Film Center of Shreveport will be partnering to bring “Lights, Camera, Action” to third graders this year. Third graders from area Minden schools will be engaged in the scripting, set design, costumes and the filming of their own movie. They will spend the next several months working on their movie that will debut at this year’s Spring Arts Festival on Friday, April 25th. The movie will be shown on the Farm’s outdoor movie screen.

The Spring Arts Festival is funded in part each year by a grant from the Louisiana Division of the Arts, the Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism and the Shreveport Regional Arts Council. For more information about the festival or Cultural Crossroads, visit their website at ww.artsinminden.com.

Auditions for the Spring Arts Festival Great Talent Search Are Coming Soon...

Cultural Crossroads’ 15th annual festival will once again feature The Great Talent Search on Saturday, April 25th at ‘The Farm’ in Minden. More than 600 students are expected to compete for the coveted title of “Most Talented Student” while one of the parish schools will be named ‘Most Talented School.”

Students K-12 from Minden, Doyline and Sibley schools will be given an opportunity to showcase their talent during open auditions Saturday, March 28th from 9am -12N at Minden High School auditorium.

Students from the Springhill area from elementary through high school will have an audition on Saturday, March 21st from 9am -12n at Browning Elementary.

Three students will be selected from each school to advance to the finals to be held during the festival. Central Elementary will host their own in-house talent show and the winners in their divisions will advance to the festival.

Open audition forms are available on line by logging on to Cultural Crossroads website at www.artsinminden.com. Forms will also be delivered to every school in Webster during the next week. However, registration can be made via email or phone. To register your child, call Angelique Feaster at 745-2787 or email a_feaster@hotmail.com or you can call Ejay Colvin at 518-4176 or email ejaycolvin@aol.com. Deadline to register is Thursday, March 26th. Performance times for Saturday’s open audition at Minden High School will be assigned prior to Saturday. It is important to remember that the performance selections used for the open audition must be the same for the finals to be held the festival on Saturday, April 25th.

Spring Arts Festival Artist Spotlight -- Lenora Thomas

Be sure to see this artist and their fine artwork at the festival on April 23-25, 2009.

Lenora Thomas will be showcasing and selling her handmade collection of vintage clothes for children at this year’s Spring Arts Festival.

Lenora lives in Magnolia, Arkansas and is a first grade teacher in the Lafayette Country Schools.

A summer at Fashion Center in Honolulu, Hawaii was all it took to spur Lenora’s interest in sewing and designing clothing. With an Art Minor and an Elementary Education Degree, she continued to advance her studies getting a Masters in Elementary Education but still sewing and designing.

Her love of vintage fabric helps her incorporate it into clothing. The combination of fabrics, textures and colors make into a one of a kind outfit for girls whose grandmas and grandpas and many others can see and reminisce the linen pieces of their childhood.

Lenora’s vintage designs are sold in boutiques in Mississippi, North Carolina and Louisiana. She hopes to someday teach the “old” art of sewing to young children who in turn can further a creative path for enjoyment.

Lenora’s designs have been shown in Dallas and Mississippi and we are proud to be able to present her wonderful collection of vintage clothes at this year’s festival.

Spring Arts Festival Artist Spotlight -- Cindy Killgore

Be sure to see this artist and their fine artwork at the festival on April 23-25, 2009.

Cindy Killgore will be showcasing her extraordinary collection of pine needle baskets at this year’s Spring Arts Festival. Cindy is a native of Claiborne Parish and currently resides in New Iberia with her husband John.

She received her degree in Art Education from La. Tech. She taught in public schools before retiring in 2007.

She learned the fine art of pine needle basket making from Andrea Thompson, a Mississippi artist who taught a class at the library.

Cindy’s unique skill and artistry has sparked others to pick up the craft of basketry. “ A basket begins with a tiny coil called a worm. From the wee beginning, an adventure unfolds. It is always a mystery story that builds until it ends,” states Mrs. Killgore. “The most common question is, “how long did it take to make?” The answer is “As long as it took?” “The process is time consuming, but I never watch the clock. I find it soothing to the mind and the spirit, much like meditation. The work brings a great deal of personal satisfaction and inner peace for me.”

Cindy Killgore achieved the level of Master artist in the Louisiana Crafts Guild in 2008 and we are proud to be present her collection at this year’s festival.

This week at Richardson Elementary (Feb. 9)

Dee Scallan, teacher and author of Moby Pincher, instructed the children on the art of creative writing.


5th graders at Richardson Elementary started writing their books this week.

We Want to be Authors!!!

A one week hands on writing experience for elementary students.

5th grade students from Richardson Elementary School will be engaged in the art of creative writing by accomplished author and teacher, Dee Scallon. “Miss Dee” as she is most fondly known will take the children through a journey of discovery and creativity. They will create their own characters and together they will author their own book. Local artist, Chris Broussard, will accompany Mrs. Scallon and give instructional art time to the students while they create and illustrate the characters that will be included in their first book.

Once the writing and illustrations are complete, the book will be published. A hard copy will be presented to the school library as a gift from the students and soft back copies of the book will be made available free of charge to every participating 5th grader.

This project is being made possible by Cultural Crossroads of Minden. The project is being financed by the local arts organization and is being made available to Richardson School as a reward for having won “Most Talented School in Webster Parish” at last year’s annual Spring Arts Festival.

Moby Pincher Series author, Dee Scallan

Dee Scallan (dscallan@comcast.net), author of the Moby Pincher Series will provide a series of writing workshops in the elementary and middle schools. This “We Want to Be Authors” Project aligns with the Comprehensive Curriculum and requires parental involvement, has a cross-generational component with pre and post testing for quality assessment. The objective of this Project is to enhance creativity through the art of writing, create parental involvement and engender civic minded students. The end product will be a printed bound book authored and illustrated by the students. The writing residency will require a full week, once a day, for 2hours. The students will be instructed to write and illustrate a hard bound book that will be printed and placed in the school library for all the students of the school. This project will require parental involvement, as the parents are informed by material sent home in the student’s folder and are asked to support, assist, and interact with their child during this project. Additionally, to enhance civic mindedness a cross-generational component, the books will also be shared with local nursing homes and senior centers in the community, with the authors doing a reading series. The writing process will have a great impact on students, teachers, and the community. The impact on students and teachers will be enormous as it will teach across the Comprehensive Curriculum targeting Information Literacy Skills (9 technology included), GLE's and Benchmarks in English, writing, computer skills, and technology, science, art, and the Louisiana Comprehensive Curriculum Activity #1 (including LEAP material). The students will begin the writing process with a pre-assessment test and a pre-writing paper based on four-square writing. There will be a discussion on fiction and non-fiction literature, the four purposes for writing, what materials they will use for research. They will be taken through the writing process--brainstorming, researching, pre-writing/drafting, use of adjectives, compound sentences, similes, words in a series, exaggeration, punctuation, etc. They will engage the book publishing aspects as they will need to proofread/edit/revise, conference, illustrate, format, and print with the final result a printer's copy to be approved by students. Upon the authors’ approval, the book will be printed and bound. The children will end the class by participating in a post assessment exam. The school will host an Authors’ Day for the participating students, inviting friends and family. On Authors’ Day the hardbound book will be presented to the school librarian. The Authors will read the story to younger students; refreshments will be available; and the Authors will sign their fellow Authors’ books.
The book will then be placed online www.mobypincher.com for students, teachers, and parents to view. The book will be read as the illustrations are shown. There will be 4 or 5 interactive questions following each book for Pre-K, Kindergarten, and Elementary students. This will promote reading comprehension skills and form a foundation for the Accelerated Reading program. This has been requested by Louisiana early childhood teachers.
The books written for children by children are an enormous inspiration for other students. Younger children are inspired to read what children have written, and older children are inspired to read, as well as write, because they also want to be authors. The students realize that these books are in the school library forever and hundreds of children for years to come will read their book even their own children. This project proves that it is possible to be an author!
This project targets, as well as what is listed in the above document, the following specific English/Language Arts in the GLE’s:

Reading and Responding
Standard 1 and Standard 7

Writing
Standard 2

Writing/Proofreading
Standard 4

Speaking and Listening
Standard 4

The Writing Prompt Section of the LEAP TEST and the iLEAP TEST is directly targeted with this project. We are seeing an increase in writing scores on the tests.

This project can also be used to connect literacy to other curriculum areas such as art, technology skills, and science.