On April 5, 2013 First Online With Fran asked a group of students from Brooklyn Theatre Arts High School to respond to this statement, “The Arts are extra-curricular and disposable.”

Here’s what they had to say…

“You can’t take away something from someone that goes to bed every night and smile about. . . It helps you find who you are as a person and where you belong in this world.” ~Justin Figueroa

This is a critical moment for the future of education in New York City.

There’s change everywhere in education, and it’s never been a hotter political topic. Major cities like Chicago, Los Angeles and Portland have seen civic leaders join with parents, students, cultural organizations and businesses to expand access to arts education. New York City needs to be on that list.

The NYC Roundtable, together with more than 40 other cultural and educational agencies, invited…

Hauntings
Are never easy
The dead do not remain
For simple reasons
They carry earthly chains
Throughout the seasons
Hauntings
Are never easy

The haunted
Are never sane
The toll of such communion
Is like a winter gale
Their hopeless, sad reunion
Is craven, lost and pale
The haunted
Are never sane

Hauntings
Are never over
For there beyond the grave
There is but timeless space
No other lives to save
When all life’s left this place
Hauntings
Are never over

(c) Helen Valentina 2013, All Rights Reserved