Arts for Learning - Young Audiences of Northeast Texas uses the arts to
enrich the lives of students and enhance their education.

April 1st
Volume 2026

Issue 1

Welcome to Arts for Learning, the Young Audiences of Northeast Texas quarterly newsletter. Our newsletters are typically sent out in March, June, September, and December each year to keep you up to date on all the wonderful things happening because of your support.

See December Issue

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15th Annual
Arts In Education Awards

By any measure, the 2026 Arts In Education Awards gala was an astounding success. On the evening of March 19th, over 225 people gathered at the beautiful Willow Brook Country Club in Tyler to honor six truly exceptional fine arts educators from across Northeast Texas.

The Country Club dining hall was immaculately dressed for the event and the patrons included the “Fine Arts Royalty” of East Texas. The honorees included Leah Cason from Hunt Elementary in New Diana; Alison Adkins Kennedy from Cumberland Academy Middle School in Tyler; and Preston Parker from Overton High School. Mr. Tom Mensch, the Artistic Director of the East Texas Youth Orchestra, received the Distinguished Service to the Arts Award. Dr. David “Doc” Crawford, of Tyler Junior College fame, received the Kay Arms Lifetime Achievement Award. And the incredibly gifted and generous Margaret Perkins received the prestigious ICON Award.

Entertainment for the evening was sponsored by C. Michael and Dr. Cheryl Rogers and included an ETYO stringed quartet, and vocalist Paige Kummerfeld, accompanied on the piano by Teresa Bledsoe. One attendee echoed the sentiments of many when he said, “Pure magic, from beginning to end. Oh, what a night!” Young Audiences is very proud of all of the honorees and we congratulate them. And we are so thankful for the many who came and so generously supported our mission.

Special Thanks to Our Event Sponsors

Citizen’s First Bank & the Perkins Foundation

Hibbs-Hallmark & Co. Insurance Joyce Buford

Tyler Junior College Linda Armstrong Tricia’s Rose City Framing

Dr. Cheryl & Michael Rogers Lee & Susan Gibson Austin Bank

Richard & Leslie Ring Dr. David & Katy Kummerfeld Joe & Becky Spadea

Ann Head – ReMax Overton ISD BMW of Tyler UTTyler

Le’Anne Southerland Steve Fitzpatrick Art Connection of East Texas

Frazier Vision Fry Equipment LLC Cooperative Teachers Credit Union

East Texas Giving Day!

Now we are gearing up for the next big event. On Tuesday, April 28, the East Texas Communities Foundation will sponsor the annual East Texas Giving Day, an 18-hour online fundraising event supporting local non-profits and helping to raise awareness of our collective work across East Texas. Please stay tuned for your opportunity to give. Young Audiences already has multiple pledges for “matching fund” gifts, so things are shaping up to be a really blessed day for us.

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Poetry In Schools Awards Ceremony

On Friday April 24th we will help host the annual Poetry In Schools Awards Ceremony at the impressive Region 7 Service Center in Kilgore.

This year we received 652 poems from 78 different campuses across Region 7. At the awards ceremony, the top three poems from each grade level, 1st through 12th, will be read aloud by the authors, and award certificates and copies of the anthology will be presented to each participant.

Recent Programs

Back on March 5th I had the joy of sponsoring 110 students from Rice Elementary to the amazing Tyler Junior College Academy of Dance production of Alice In Wonderland. Congratulations to the entire cast and to their incomparable director, Carolyn Hanna, and her team at the Academy of Dance. The production was beautifully staged; the costuming and casting was superb; and the choreography was danced brilliantly.

In February we enjoyed a very special visit from teaching artist Hope Shiver from Houston. Hope is one of our highly qualified artists and her programs are always excellent, but especially popular during Black History Month. She does an amazing interactive presentation about Sojourner Truth and another focused on the work of Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Hope performed five times in two days at three different campuses in Tyler and Mt. Enterprise. Then on Thursday evening, between her performance days, we hosted a reception in her honor at which our board members and other artists were able to visit with her and get better acquainted. She is a fascinating lady and an accomplished teaching artist, and Young Audiences is proud to be her partner.

Another new venture for Young Audiences is our “After-School Drama Class” hosted at The Bridges in Bullard. The Bridges is a recently opened after-school student ministry in Bullard overseen by Velmay Power and her talented staff. At present, I meet with students every Thursday from 4:15 to 5:30 for drama lessons and interactive exercises that help develop their ability to speak in front of others, how to create character voices appropriate to the literature we use, and how to effectively move on the stage. Students are having lots of fun as they learn this craft and build special relationships with other students. And the program is growing weekly. Stay tuned for some very exciting developments that are coming out of this program.

Upcoming Programs

Coming up on April 9th Young Audiences will be sponsoring 235 students from Dixie Elementary and the Boshears Center to a grand performance of The Jungle Book at the Cowan Center.

We have also made a special arrangement with Tyler ISD and one of our most celebrated artist groups for a great Cinco de Mayo program on Friday, May 1. The Tyler ISD Director of Fine and Performing Arts, Luke Dean, has partnered with Young Audiences to bring the award-winning Mexico Ballet Folklorico to the Tyler Legacy High School theatre for two amazing dance exhibitions celebrating the Hispanic culture. About 1500 students from across Tyler ISD will attend the programs. The beautiful costumes, the music and the choreography are awe-inspiring.

I am pleased to announce that our application to the Texas Commission on the Arts for a grant to introduce the famous Music Memory curriculum was approved. Our expert teacher is Darla Landig, with 15 years experience coaching state champion teams, and we have partnered with the curriculum publisher in Austin. We will roll out the program officially at the Summer Art Camps at the Caldwell Arts Academy and my hope is that the program will grow and become one of our signature programs across Region 7, engaging dozens of schools and hundreds of students.

Director's Notes

We have also been busy updating our new website. In several ways it is a work in progress, but it is becoming more complete and current every day. We are improving every aspect of the site, with a special focus on professional development programs and updating our teaching artist catalog with current program descriptions and video of the artists in action. Please visit the website and check out the “News” tab at the top of the page. There you will find a calendar of upcoming events that Young Audiences is promoting in partnership with Tyler Junior College as well as programs specific to Young Audiences. And be sure to click on the media and podcast tabs and take time to enjoy the many informative media posts we have. Our podcast is called “Arts For Learning,” and so far we have taped four episodes with a new one being added every month. If you have an idea for a podcast, or if you know someone that would be an inspiring guest, please let me know.

The Young Audiences office on Amherst is a “happening place.” If you are ever in the neighborhood and have time for a chat, please drop in. I keep the coffee pot ready.

Glenn

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