Testimonials
Dr. Pat Cosentino, Superintendent of Region 12 Schools
Thank you so much for hosting the Young Writers event and Silent Auction this past Saturday night. What an incredible evening. The Auction was fantastic, so many great donations and generous bids. The readings of the student’s work were outstanding. The guest readers were perfect! I was so proud of our students, our teachers and our community. Thank you all at ASAP, Board members, volunteers and participants. Your dedication to the arts and commitment to our students is unmatched. Three Cheers for a job well done!
Evelyn Rinaldi, 2012 Summer Grant Program Recipient
Thank you so much for helping me to pursue my dreams and giving me the opportunity to begin the path towards my artistic career!
Olivia Conforti, 2012 Summer Grant Program Recipient
I have been through so many different college auditions and I wouldn’t have ever made it with out the generous help from ASAP! I have grown so much as an artist , and I am so thankful to have found you, ASAP will forever be apart of my life!
Chié Yoshinaka, Inter-district Strings Project Teaching Artist
I had another great experience working with ASAP, young musicians, Lisa Laquidara and Mary Costanza! It’s a great program for the community.
Anderson Warshaw, Selected Photographer (grades 3-5) at the 2nd Annual Celebration of Young Photographers
Thank you for the new camera! And thank you for doing this ASAP contest! I am ready to enter again next year!
Ann Marie McGrath, Warren Parent
Ryan and Zoe loved the Pilobolus dance program and the summer camp so much. Ryan said to me that after the summer camp she is not afraid to dance in front of other people. I love all the new found confidence that the ASAP programs instill in our children and I am so blessed to have my children apart of it.
Jen Cummings, Parent of Summer Grant Program Participant
Thank you so much for a wonderful evening (Celebration of Emerging Artists event) and a great summer for Bailey. It was truly life changing for him.
Susan Stumpf, Region 12 Parent
Elaina and Anika are really looking forward to this trip to Weir Farm! Thank you for all you do to bring inspirational programs to the kids.
Sue Lubomski, Principal at Forbes School, Torrington
All of the programs that ASAP establishes and coordinates are high quality opportunities for our students. These grant-funded programs provide learning experiences students would never have had the chance to experience.
Our students have gotten to dance, perform plays and engage in real world science experiments with professional dancers, artists, writers and scientists. These real world hands-on experiences build skills and memories that last a lifetime. They expose our students to new learning in ways that they may have only imagined or read about through books. Having these opportunities sparks our students’ curiosity about the world and encourages them to keep on learning and discovering where their true interests and abilities lie. Students at Forbes have also established friendships with students from other schools. They have enjoyed these interactions.
We are very grateful for our collaborative relationship with JoAnne Torti and her team. They are a very creative group! They have been able to think of new challenges and ways of working together that make the projects worthwhile. We look forward to continuing our collaboration with ASAP next year!
Jennifer Bogue, in response to the 7th Annual Celebration of Young Writers
What a great night. I cannot even imagine the work that went into putting that event together. It makes me really happy to see so many people willing to support the arts. Congratulations on pulling it off, again. We will definitely attend next year!
Parent, in response to the Inter-district Dance Project & Pilobolus performance
Participating in this program opened up a world to my son that would not have been opened otherwise. We can’t afford extra activities and if not for this chance, he might never have realized that he had the courage to perform. I was also so happy I had the chance to invite my family without burdening their pocketbooks. You all do a wonderful job.
Gina Lacey, in response to the Inter-district Dance Project & Pilobolus performance
I can’t thank you all enough for the amazing opportunity you afforded my son. The Pilobolus production had an amazingly positive influence on him, filling him with renewed confidence and energy that he had been lacking. He has a huge love of all that is artistic, from photography to crafts, to piano & clarinet, to acrobatics & gymnastics, to dance, and beyond. This program that you created was wonderful for him, and without your hugely generous donation, he never would have had this incredible experience. It was exhausting and time consuming, but he would have gone to practice every day if he could have! The entire production, from Day 1 until the end, was wonderful. Thank you again for offering this, helping financially, and for all the effort and time you put into it. I can’t tell you how much of a lasting impression this has made on my favorite boy!
Parent, in response to the ASAP Summer Theater Intensive
Thanks for making it a fun and worthwhile summer for my girls!
Parent, in response to the ASAP Summer Theater Intensive
Wow! What a fantastic play. Thank you so much for having this. It was amazing how they were able to get it all done in 9 days! All the kids did an awesome job.
Parent
Your organization makes a unique and valuable contribution to our area – in terms of culture, education, pleasure and fun!
Anonymous, in regard to the 6th Annual Celebration of Young Writers
As I listened to the poems written by local schoolchildren as young as 6 years old, being read by our local literati, I was truly amazed and reborn.
Family from Roxbury
Sending a note of thanks for the delightful opportunity to experience the Young Writer’s Celebration this past weekend! It was such a lovely evening for all and a treat to witness talents that these many bright students possess… I’m very grateful for the many worthy enrichment programs that you offer for these budding and diverse children to excel and grow within.
Summer Grant Recipient
Thank you so much for your generosity. ASAP is a wonderful program because it offers high school students, like myself, the opportunity to receive grants and use their talents at a college level for the summer.
Former ASAP Participant
ASAP gave me the chance to try different media and avenues of creative expression. ASAP prepared me for college level education and how to engage more efficiently with my peers. I can directly thank ASAP for enriching my development and providing various artistic outlets for me.
Parent
I have watched my daughter thrive and bloom into a young girl willing to be herself, thanks to ASAP.
Local Region 12 teacher
I have seen many students enriched by the ASAP programs and definitely feel that students getting into highly competitive programs at Emerson, Berkeley School of Music, Tish at NYU, for example, owe their acceptance, in part, to the ASAP offerings starting in the primary schools. I continue to support the ASAP workshops and know that the children of our region benefit greatly from this program. I also appreciate the fact that ASAP workshops are offered to public, private, and home-schooled students. I am impressed by the work that the ASAP staff does to design and promote their initiatives and know that we are very lucky to have such a program in our region.
ParentI believe it is the exposure to the possibilities and the kinesthetic learning opportunities that make a program such as ASAP’s so vital to young children in a somewhat remote community such as ours.
Parent
The children constantly reuse what they learn. They love taking digital photos from the photo course, dancing to hip-hop, and just being aware of a greater thing than themselves. Art is a journey. Thanks again.
Parent
I’m very grateful for the many worthy enrichment programs that you offer for these budding and diverse children to excel and grow within.
Parent, in response to Drawing & Painting Workshop
My daughter really looked forward to class every week and I was very impressed by the quality of artwork that was produced. Thank you for this opportunity.
Parent
ASAP art and theatre projects have given my children a lot of confidence and the yoga instruction has given them important skills in stress relief that will serve them throughout their school career.
Parent, in regard to Side by Side
I have to share that it was during the Jupiter piece that I noted in all the students a rare and new moment of maturity and focus when every musician on stage was playing for themselves. They all seemed oblivious of the stage and audience but totally aware of their instruments.
I mentioned the piece to my child a few days later and he came alive. It was the first time he had ever expressed a passion for a particular piece and for hearing his own instrument.
We all thought Mr. Bjaland was a very fun and unique conductor and the music was perfect for the venue.
Thanks for planting seeds of music in today’s youth.
Chie Yoshinaka, Strings Project Teaching Artist Assistant
Just wanted to say CONGRATS to all Strings Project students for amazing performances! I’ll definitely miss you all…
Judy Auchincloss, in regard to Side by Side
What a splendid evening that was last night. The symphony was terrific and the kids….well they were a joy!
Participant of Dance with Pilobolus
It was seriously the best thing I’ve done for myself in such a long time.
Participant of Dance with Pilobolus
This workshop was one of the best adventures I have ever been on. It absorbed 110% of me and will stay with me forever!
Parent
We are so thankful for ASAP and the wonderful opportunities you provide the students in Region 12. My son has been so excited to be able to learn more about playing the violin from the musicians from the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra, and is SO looking forward to playing with them on February 26!
Carolan Dwyer, Parent
Thank you for all your hard work in making the dream of a play at Burnham a reality. The costumes and songs were terrific. Thanks again for all your evident work in order to make this happen. It was an experience I know my daughter will always carry with her.
Summer Grant Program Recipient
Thank you ASAP for giving me the opportunity to pursue my passion for ballet and the art.
Summer Grant Recipient
This past summer I had the privilege of working with an artist in residence, Ahmed Alsoudani, at Steep Rock Arts Association in Washington CT.
Thank you so much ASAP not only for making this internship possible, but also for the previous two incredible summers, that allowed me to participate in the RISD Pre-college Program and the Pratt Pre-College Program. These programs are some of the best experiences of my life to date, not only for the learning experience but also for the friends and connections that I have made, and maintained for the past three years. The opportunities that ASAP provided for me were a great way to find out that art is indeed my passion, and even gave me a sneak peak as to what my college experience would be like, making me be a little less nervous on my fist days of class. THANK YOU ASAP!!!
Parent
I am grateful for the amazing experience and positive influence ASAP has given my daughter. As a parent, it is a most pleasing feeling to know she is gaining lifetime experiences that she can draw upon throughout her life. The ASAP performance at the end of summer camp revealed how these amazing teachers and counselors co-created a work of art with the children. Many thanks to all who make ASAP what it is!
