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Brent Schooley Selected as Bayard H. Friedman Chair for Teaching Excellence in Performing Arts and Victoria Scheffler Selected as Broadway at the Bass Chair for Teaching Excellence in Performing Arts in Theater and/or Dance
Fort Worth, Texas – Brent Schooley, head band director at Fort Worth ISD’s South Hills High School, has been selected as the 2019-2020 Bayard H. Friedman Chair for Teaching Excellence in Performing Arts. Victoria Scheffler, theater director at South Hills High School, has been selected as the 2019-2020 Broadway at the Bass Chair for Teaching Excellence in Performing Arts in Theater and/or Dance.
Mr. Schooley and Ms. Scheffler were chosen following a rigorous three-part evaluation process based on a written application and narrative; a video recording of classroom instruction; and an interview session with a distinguished panel of judges.
Sue Buratto, who serves as Education Director at Bass Hall and Performing Arts Fort Worth, said the South Hills teachers caught the judges’ attention throughout the process. “The panel of judges for Broadway at the Bass and the Bayard Friedman Chair for Music Teachers were seasoned educators with many years of experience in the field. Each panel was particularly impressed by the dedication of Mr. Schooley and Ms. Scheffler to their students. Students at South Hills High School are fortunate to receive training from these committed individuals, and we salute their belief that the arts are making a difference in the lives of their students.”
Performing Arts Fort Worth established the Bayard H. Friedman Chair for Teaching Excellence in Performing Arts in 1999 to annually recognize and reward an exemplary Fort Worth Independent School District teacher. The Chair carries the title for one year and receives a $5,000 honorarium. In 2016, Performing Arts Fort Worth established an additional Performing Arts Chair, the Broadway at the Bass Chair for Teaching Excellence in Theater and/or Dance, in order to recognize excellence in these areas.
Mr. Schooley has seven years of teaching experience, all of them in Fort Worth ISD. Under his direction, the South Hills High School band received its first-ever sweepstakes rating for UIL Concert and Sight-Reading and earned the first Superior Marching UIL trophy in 10 years. In addition to growing and enhancing the band program, Principal Rodrigo Durbin said Mr. Schooley goes out of his way to build relationships. “Mr. Schooley has established positive working relationships with students, staff and parents. He has encouraged and developed a strong band parent organization that contributes to the campus. He is an outstanding teacher who has provided great leadership in building the band program at South Hills High School.”
Ms. Scheffler has 18 years of teaching experience, with 11 years in Fort Worth ISD. Her students have been the District one-act play champions the last two years and they have advanced further in UIL in recent years than before. Assistant Principal Mike Mihalik said Ms. Scheffler’s impact goes beyond winning competitions. “She lifts up every student and believes that they all have something to contribute. She coaches them, challenges them, and nurtures the very best in them until they become champions. She shapes the students into a family and they represent the best of what live theatre teaches us: that, on stage, anyone can become anything.”
Fort Worth established the Chairs for Teaching Excellence program in 1994. It is modeled after the university-level Chair program and is designed to recognize and reward exemplary teachers. This program is unique because of its role in a public secondary school setting and for its rigorous selection process.
The remaining 14 Chairs will be announced in the fall. All recipients will be recognized at the annual awards luncheon later in November.
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