Troy Anthony Chavez

City: Whittier City
Position Seeking: Board Member

Question 1: Please share a meaningful experience you had with art (visual, dance, drama, music, media arts) while growing up and its impact on you.

Growing up I was a very angry kid and did not have many healthy outlets, besides hurting myself. However, one day I decided I was tired of being hurt and wrote my feelings on paper. Once I read what I had wrote I immediately felt relieved and happy. Because, the emotions I read were no longer scary or sporadic.

I found an outlet that didn’t harm me and enabled me to be true to myself and everything, everyone around me.

Currently, I have two published poems and feel saved from the arts. I do not know where I would have been without the arts.

Question 2: How can arts education support student outcomes such as English language development, reducing the achievement gap, and preparing youth for college and/or meaningful careers?

The arts will enable children to delve deep within themselves. They will not simply know how to write but they will know how to create.

Making something visceral and an entity that will make them feel proud of who they are.

This feeling will embolden them to take on a career and not be afraid of the future.

Question 3: What do you think the role of the School Board should be in ensuring that students have continued access to a broad range of study subjects, including the arts (broadly defined)?

I feel as a board member it is their duty to ensure that the arts are properly funded and advised correctly.

Students should engage with the arts with proper equipment and tools to explore the wonders of creativity.

I am a firm believer in protecting art programs abroad.

Question 4: In light of the Local Control Funding Formula and development of district Local Control Accountability Plans (LCAPs), what are your creative solutions for achieving goals in the eight priority areas?

My goal is to find solutions that will not strip anything from the current programs. Moreover, I also want to evaluate the current programs and their effectiveness in order to prevent hemorrhage the budget. Consequently, funding and emboldening the programs that help our children thrive, especially art programs.