A Passion for Art in the Schools - Cheryl Poe

Having devoted her career to elementary school music, it’s no surprise that Cheryl Poe jumped into action when a budget crisis threatened our local art and music programs. This was back in the summer of 2008, when Alachua County Public Schools’ solution to state cutbacks was to reduce art and music classes to half a year. At public meetings, then-ACPS Superintendent Dan Boyd presented the challenge—if the community could raise $850,000 in six weeks over the summer, he would return the programs to full status. Cheryl and fellow retired teachers Sue Johnson and Sandra Clifton were game for the challenge, with Sandra recognizing that “if 6,600 people donate $125, we’ll have what we need.” Cheryl says it really turned into a grassroots effort, with the community “literally delivering money to our driveways.” What to do with that money, however, became the issue and that’s where the Community Foundation of North Central Florida came in. The group of passionate former educators created the Friends of Elementary Arts, Inc. and the Elementary Arts Programs Field of Interest Fund was born. Opened with just $775, more than 500 local citizens then responded to the call, raising $85,000 for the Fund in just a few weeks. Though the required amount was not raised in that very short time, the grassroots advocacy effort ultimately paid off in a big way, when voters passed the One Mill Property Tax Initiative in November of 2008. The One Mill provided not only for full-time music and arts programs, but also for school bands and libraries, as well as for counselors and nurses, beginning in the 2009 school year. And in August of that year, Friends of the Elementary Arts donated $50,000 to be divided equally among ACPS elementary school music and art teachers to rebuild and improve their arts programs in their schools. Though the immediate crisis was averted, Cheryl says the Friends group effort was far from over. “We wrote into our bylaws that going forward the money from the Elementary Arts Fund would be used to educate and enhance arts education over and above their in-school curriculum.” Since 2010, that translated to field trips to see live performances of the Alachua County Youth Orchestra, to the Samuel P. Harn Museum and the Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts and for high school bands to visit and inspire middle and elementary students. Through the Fund, the Friends group has donated almost $100,000 to ACPS, with more than 15,000 young students provided with opportunities that might be otherwise be closed to them. The Friends group grew over the years and has added to the Fund with some creative fundraising, including the very popular Musical Chairs Events and the Friends of Elementary Arts Celebrates Student Artists & Local Mentor Artists Exhibitions. More than 50 visual artists donate their time, talent and treasure each year and more than 100 volunteers assist with these events, demonstrating just the kind of passion for the arts our community is known for. Cheryl says that, while much has changed since that summer many years ago, the mission has remained the same, “We came together in response to a crisis and to advocate for the importance of an arts education for our kids. CFNCF has supported us all along the way, allowing us to grow, adapt and develop new ideas, while taking care of the reporting and investing requirements that we don’t have any expertise in. They’ve been a huge value to us.”