What an honor and a privilege it was to be a part of Arts Advocacy Day 2016. I truly cannot express the impact it had on me. Being in DC with people I love speaking about what I love the most isn't an everyday thing. I am so thankful to have experienced something so beautiful.
On our first day, the ITO gals and I went on a little adventure around DC. Thanks to our wonderful ITO Vice Chair Grace Alt and her amazing northern metro navigation skills, we safely made it to the National Mall and took in all the amazing historical sights. Our amazing ITO Chair Natasha Schlaffer and I are the biggest history/politics fans you will ever meet, so naturally we were in heaven. Here are the gals in front of the Lincoln Memorial! He's behind those pillars somewhere I promise!!
We finished up our stroll and (by the grace of Grace) headed back to the hotel to meet up our fellow EdTA team members for a wonderful dinner.
The next day was full of preparing and learning. While receiving all of the stats and facts on the power of the arts, I realized how important the arts really are. We often think of the arts and immediately refer back to our story. We think of our first show, our first family found in that theatre class, or even our first thespian festival! But we often forget the intelligence, open mindedness, and pure bliss they bring to our lives. Sitting in that room, I remembered I would not in any way, shape, or form be the person I am today without the education the arts have given to me. We were granted the pleasure of listening to our new friend and Democracy Works essay winner Salwa read her essay to the entire delegation.
Her moving words received a standing ovation from the audience, and if
you are interested in hearing her story, you can find the link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KGgQgAg--8.
That evening we had the exciting opportunity to attend an Arts Advocacy Day celebration at the Kennedy Center(!!!). We saw a fantastic guest speaker, John Maeda, talk
about the importance of the inclusion of arts in the STEAM acronym as
opposed to just STEM, since the arts provides essential creativity and
innovative skills for young professionals. You can watch him give a TED
talk here. This talk was truly exciting for the girls because we all value our educations and witnessing first hand a man that nearly perfected the combination of his left and right side of his brain working was magical.
The next day was hands down one of the best days of my life. We headed up to the Russel Senate for Congressional Breakfast with some wonderful speeches and performances by legislators, presidential committee heads, musicians, and poets. I was then off to meet with Sen John Cornyn's staff for my first meeting of the day. The adrenaline of speaking about something that you truly believe in while being in a place you dream to work in is something so beautiful I could never even attempt to put it into words. You can follow this link to my twitter where a video of me advocating was posted if you are interested! https://twitter.com/ITOAriH/status/707299183494045697
Following that meeting, I went with my fellow constituents to meet with the staff of Congressman Kenny Marchant. They were eager and excited about the success the arts have had in their community and the future of the ESSA.
Following our day on Capitol Hill, the girls and I headed off to the hotel and parted ways until June! :(
I am so excited for Nationals and to end this amazing year with my best friends in a place filled with people full of passions for the arts. One more
big thank you goes out to Mr. Palmarini, without whom the weekend could
not have been so successful. Feel free to follow me at International Thespian
Officers on Facebook, internationalthespianofficers on Instagram,
@ITOAriH on Twitter, and ITOOfficial on Snapchat to stay updated
with my travels for EDTA!
Here's a nice little family photo to leave you with.