New Auditorium Seats - Part III - Wexford Collegiate School for the Arts

2012 Performing Arts Showcase - March 7 & 8, 2012
Introductory remarks preceding video slideshow:
Good evening and welcome to Wexford Collegiate. Let me begin by asking if everyone is enjoying their seats?
The original wood seats were installed back in 1965 when the school was built. They were not particularly comfortable and for over 40 years we've all had sore backs as a result. For the last 10 years the School Council had been actively trying to have those seats replaced. It wasn't until about two years ago that circumstances occurred that really allowed us to move forward with this goal.
There are some key TDSB admin staff that need to be recognized and thanked: Ms. Rauda Dickinson, our former Superintendent; Ms. Nadira Persaud, our current Superintendent; and the link-pin person who really enabled this project to all come together, the Chief Facilities Officer for the TDSB, Mr. Angelos Bacopoulos. It was Angelos's team of tradesmen who did the front line work of installing everything, and tonight many of them are here sitting in the front row. They worked on weekends and through the Winter Break, to meet the tight timelines that had been set. This auditorium isn't just for shows, during the school year this is a classroom for the Performing Arts Department, and the guys did a great job working around our schedule to make things happen. Thanks also goes to Steve Messina and Ken McCloud who supervised and assisted with the work.
My family, friends, and I believe, many of the tradesmen, wondered about my excitement and enthusiasm over the seats - everyday I would visit the auditorium to check on the progress of the work. I should really clarify that it isn't the seats that inspire me, but it's what I hear and see when I'm sitting in these seats that inspires me. And that is the culmination of the efforts of our sound crew, our lighting crew, and of course, the exceptional performers that we have here at Wexford.
These new seats in our auditorium send a message - they say that we value our Performing Arts program. When you come here and sit in these seats, you are telling the staff and students of Performing Arts that you value what they are accomplishing here.
For those of you who didn't pop by every morning at 7:30 to see how the progress was going, I took some photos for you and we have a short video slideshow that highlights the seat installation. Immediately following the slideshow, be prepared to be awed, amazed and inspired by the 2012 Performing Arts Showcase.
Thank you.
[Walter Korynkiewicz, School Council Chair]
To participate in our Seat Sponsorship Program please visit:
www.wexfordcsa....