Three Ventura County teachers have been nominated for the BRAVO Award, sponsored by the Music Center of Los Angeles, for making the arts an integral part of the curriculum.
Darlene Sweatt of Elmhurst Elementary School in Ventura, Bruce Kanegai of Simi Valley High School and Patti Post of Ventura High School were three of 11 finalists selected from five Southern California counties.
The BRAVO awards were created nine years ago by the Music Center Education Division "to recognize outstanding educators who either teach the arts specifically or general education teachers who incorporate the arts in their day-to-day curriculum," said Kathy Bornstein of the Music Center. "Art education dollars are dwindling, and this is our way of reminding people how important the arts are."
Sweatt, a fifth-grade teacher, has put on such large-scale productions as "The Nutcracker," an annual presentation in which students dance, sing and act.
