Angelina College’s School of Visual and Performing Arts on Wednesday held its annual Scholarship Signing Day inside the Angelina Center for the Arts building, with 23 incoming students from throughout East Texas on-hand to sign their scholarship letters to join one of the school’s four major arts divisions: Visual and Graphic Arts, Theater, Choir and Music.
Director Beckie Compton said there are other students who weren’t able to attend Wednesday’s event, and that the school is still in the process of recruiting, so the numbers will continue to grow.
“I want our community to see that we’re still rebuilding and growing our programs (after the pandemic), and that live events such as theater, music and art exhibits are still very important to people in our community,” Compton said.
Compton noted how the event is a “first impression” of sorts for those incoming students who will be meeting – and working with – new faces when they arrive in the fall.
“This kind of day is special for the students in that it’s an opportunity for them to feel welcome,” Compton said. “For some incoming freshmen, this may be their first time visiting our campus, and we want them to know they’re now part of a family.
“It’s also a big deal to get to meet the instructors ahead of time, so on that first day of class, there’ll be a recognition factor there for them, and they’ll feel more comfortable. This day is also a way for us to get the students excited about being here.”
AC’s arts programs have a history of developing student talents for both personal growth and professional opportunities.
Following is the list of students (with hometowns, if offered), their chosen programs and the corresponding instructors:
Visual Arts (Le’Anne Alexander, instructor): Meghan Spivey Shieres, Jordan Tarver (Lufkin) and Sarah Godwin (Lufkin).
Graphic Arts (Reg Reynolds, instructor): Miguel Corral, Thoren Flowers (Diboll), Ryleigh Swann (Nacogdoches), Clint Lively (Lufkin) and Avery Sullivan.
Theater (Kary Raine, instructor): Madeline Gipson (Lufkin), Devyn Hines (Lovelady), Victoria Steptoe (Lufkin) and Phoebey Clark (Lufkin).
Choir (Beckie Compton, instructor): Valerie Bonilla, Mir Raciv Tyaman (Philippines), Ruby Hammond (Hudson) and Destiny Williams (Central).
Band (Paul Berler, instructor): Jacob Hall (Hudson), Adrianna Martinez (Diboll), Shaun Monroe (Huntington), Angel Brown (Hudson), Joseph Flores (Lufkin), Clarissa Garcia (Lufkin) and Angel Rodriguez Ibarra (Hudson).
For further information on AC’s Visual and Performing arts programs, contact Beckie Compton at bcompton@angelina.edu. For any other information regarding Angelina College, contact Krista Brown at kbrown@angelina.edu.
