Fine & Performing Arts Program Celebrates 40th Anniversary

HOWELL – Stage lights illuminated upon Gosewisch Auditorium at Howell High School as students put on a spectacular performance for their annual showcase.

The Fine & Performing Arts Magnet Program’s (FPAC) held its Annual Showcase recently celebrating a monumental milestone of 40 years since the program’s inception.

Since 1984, the program provides training to young artists who want to combine a college preparatory schedule with advanced arts training in a traditional high school setting. FPAC is comprised of three separate programs: Acting; Dance; and Music, Video, & Production. Each is a distinct program with unique courses.

Every year, a showcase is held for students to display the year’s hard work to the community.

To mark the 40th anniversary, alumni from throughout the years and staff who founded the program were in attendance to recognize its growth.

Actor Tom Pelphrey (Class of 2000) was inducted into the Howell High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame. Pelphrey noted that “after all the years away from Howell High School, it still felt like home to be back on the stage.”

Actor Kal Penn (Class of 1995) joined Pelphrey in announcing that the school’s acting award will now be named after retired FPAC teacher Stephen Kazakoff.

“The FPAC program is really not about honing talent or perfecting skills, although those are ancillary benefits, it is really about giving students a safe space to be creative, and to find themselves. I hope we continue the important work of enabling students to find themselves for 40 more years,” Craig Chern, Assistant Principal and Program Supervisor, said.

According to the school, many graduates of the program have gone on to traditional liberal arts colleges and prestigious institutions for the performing arts such as NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Juilliard, University of Southern California, University of the Arts, Mason-Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers, Berklee College, University of Miami, and many more.

Alumnae have starred in or work behind-the-scenes on feature films, national television shows (The Daily Show, Designated Survivor, The Rachael Ray Show), and national and world tours of musicals (Miss Saigon).

In addition, they have won Peabody and Emmy awards for video editing, received Emmy Awards for acting, published books, produced independent films, and edited and written for national magazines and newspapers.

Alumnae have also become successful in fields beyond the arts, such as medicine, physical and speech therapy, education, entertainment law and management, and architecture.

“It’s been 40 years of nurturing creativity, shaping dreams, and inspiring brilliance through the power of fine and performing arts. This program has guided past students to successful careers in theater, television, film, music, and more. I cannot wait to see the talent the graduates from FPAC over the next 40 years,” Principal Jeremy Braverman said.