Each year every school district in Florida is required to host an annual contest to select one middle school student’s artwork to be on display in Tallahassee, Florida. The exhibit of winners will be on display in the Capitol during the upcoming 2022 legislative session with representation from all 67 districts in Florida. This year’s student is from the St. Johns County Center for the Arts at R.J. Murray Middle School.
The poster contest works to motivate students to report any information they may have regarding violence that has happened or may happen in hopes of preventing potential school violence.
Mark Stevens was the 2020 recipient of the annual EMMA Means Music Scholarship Award. EMMA Board President, Joanne Everett, and SAHS Principal, Dr. DeArmas Graham, presented Mark with a certificate of recognition. Mark will be attending Florida State University this fall to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Instrumental Music Education . In Mark’s scholarship essay to EMMA, he wrote, “Music has always given me a purpose in life. It has shown me how to grow, how to care, how to learn, and how to love. I also feel that music has helped shape me into the young man that I am today. My goal in life is to become a successful music educator. However, teaching music is not the only responsibility that would go along with that. I want to become a well-rounded music educator that can serve as a model for others to follow and to leave a legacy behind in the State of Florida where students can thrive and enjoy making music with each other and can serve their communities well as mature young adults.”
Another day, another chance to bring more music education to our schools. EMMA Concert Association was proud to provide funding to band director at Murray Middle School Joshua Bond. The funds were used to buy a new bass guitar amplifier and guitar amplifier.
It was a special day for St. Augustine High School American Music students in Trey Brewer’s classes. Dr. Ron Penn brought his vast knowledge and down home manner as he took us to the Cumberland plateau for a journey through music history and culture. He drew connections with the students’ community and culture and had them playing along on bass, guitar, banjo, mandolin and fiddle. Thanks to EMMA Concert Association Jack Page Projects for their continued support of music education.
The 2019-2020 school year marked the 10th anniversary of St. Johns County School District’s partnership with the St Augustine Art Association (STAAA), but without public access to the gallery we were not able to host a physical show. As an alternative, STAAA hosted a virtual show on their website last Spring and displayed the work of our middle school artists. This year’s show saw 100% participation from our 13 schools and 18 teachers with middle school art programs and included over 80 works featuring a variety of mediums and artistic expressions. Below are just a few selected images representing each of our Academies and Middle Schools.
The 2019-2020 school year marked the 15th anniversary partnership with the St Augustine Art Association who hosts the event in their main exhibition gallery. Under the guidance of 2o visual arts teachers and representing six high schools this past years’ event featured 149 student artist works. Twenty-nine students received awards in seven categories including 2D, 3D, digital art and photography and all student artwork was on display in the gallery.
The poster contest works to motivate students to report any information they may have regarding violence that has happened or may happen in hopes of preventing potential school violence. This year’s theme was See It, Say it, Stop It!
40 Orange Street
St. Augustine, FL 32084
