[StBernard] Arts center opens at Chalmette High

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Sun Feb 20 09:43:50 EST 2011


Arts center opens at Chalmette High
Gala will showcase student talent Class Act
Thursday, February 17, 2011
By Barry Lemoine
Contributing writer
The long-anticipated opening of Chalmette High School's Cultural Arts
building is slated for March 18 and 19 with a salute to the performing arts
kicking things off.

The Cultural Arts Center, located on the grounds of the school's Ninth Grade
Academy, will open its doors to showcase the talent of the parish with
performances featuring students and St. Bernard Parish Public Schools'
alumni performers, including instrumental, vocal, dance and drama
performances, along with visual arts displays.

The opening gala performance will be an after-five affair, with tickets
available at $50 per person. The doors will open at 5:30 p.m. for a tour and
a reception, followed by a 7 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Superintendent Doris Voitier said such a great venue needed to have a big
opening.

"We want to open the facility in the grandest way possible and, at the same
time, provide our residents with an opportunity for a magnificent night
out," Voitier said. "We hope this will be the first of many dinner-theater
type events for the facility."

The performance will begin at 7:30, and tickets will be available at the
school board's administration office on a first-come, first-served basis
beginning March 1. All seating is reserved.

The performance will be repeated again on March 19, and tickets to that
performance-only event will be $10 per person. Doors will open at 6 p.m. in
order for patrons to tour the facility. Seating is open, and tickets may be
purchased at Chalmette High School's offices on the main campus and at the
Ninth Grade Academy.

The facility features a 420-seat performance theater, a music studio with
recording capabilities, a state-of-the art dance studio with two practice
rooms, a lecture theater with technology capabilities at every seat, a
library for the Ninth Grade Academy, and a coffee shop for students. The
school district also is partnering with the St. Bernard Parish council to
house the public library on the first floor of the building.

Voitier said bringing such a big project to the community has indeed been a
team effort.

"We have worked very hard to provide this beautiful facility to our students
through a combination of private donations, FEMA and a community development
block grant. It is, no doubt, one of the finest -- if not the finest --
instructional facility of its kind in the state," Voitier said. "We want to
thank our partners at Exxon-Mobil, the Meraux Foundation, the Lion's Club
International Foundation, Entergy and the Chalmette High School Cultural
Arts Foundation, founded by Albert Carey."

. . . . . . . .

As the community continues to grow, so does the St. Bernard Parish public
school system.

After several months of negotiations with the Archdiocese of New Orleans,
the school district recently completed paperwork to obtain ownership of the
site of the former St. Mark Catholic church and school in Chalmette.

The school system plans to build the new Lacoste Elementary School on that
site in order to alleviate crowding at Arabi, Chalmette and Joseph Davies
elementary schools.

. . . . . . . .

Two teachers in the district deserve special credit for the success of a
recent Fun Run hosted at Chalmette High School.

Chalmette High teacher André Feigler and C.F. Rowley teacher Alex Lebow have
spent countless hours inspiring students to exercise and lead an active,
healthy lifestyle. But these educators also lead by example, and the Fun Run
was the culmination of their efforts as nearly one hundred people
participated in this family-friendly and healthy event.

Congratulations to all who made this event possible.




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