Art is about teamwork and communication. Lately, for Bay City Public Schools, it’s also been about collecting statewide honors.
Vivian Kern, a junior at Bay City Central High School, won a competition to have her artwork featured in the State of the State Address program. Kelcie Corrion and Deacon Howard, also from Bay City Central High School, earned an invitation to join 20 of the state’s top musical theater performers in the All-State Musical Theater Ensemble.
The trio is among dozens of creative teens in Bay City whose talents recently have been recognized at higher levels.
Western Band Director Dustin Vanderveer says the middle school and high school bands earned straight 1’s – the highest score possible – at the 2024 Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association District Festival held earlier this month.
Vanderveer adds that another of his students participated in the All-State Band in January. That involves submitting an audition tape to the State Office for the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association.
The student was selected to join students from across the state who played together under the direction of a professional conductor. Despite the miles between the students, they were able to rehearse.
Vanderveer’s student went on to play at DeVos Hall in Grand Rapids. “And, yeah, it’s one of the best things that can happen,” he says.
Jared Kaufman, Theater Department Director at Central, says the arts attract students of all types – athletes, those comfortable in front of an audience, and even those struggling to get on stage. Through art, Kaufman says these diverse groups work together toward common goals.
The three teens most recently honored also testify to the importance of the arts.
Vivian Kern’s artwork selected for the State of the State Address Program
![]()
Vivian Kern's artwork was featured in the State of the State Address program. (Photo courtesy of Bay City Public Schools)Vivian, who also is a graphic arts student at the Bay-Arenac ISD Career Center, says she decided at the last minute to enter the competition to have her artwork on the cover of the State of the State Address program. The contest was open to students from kindergarten through 12
th grade.
“I heard about the contest a couple of days before it was due,” she says.
Her graphic design teacher at the Career Center encouraged her to enter.
She started working on a sketch at school, and working out how she wanted it to look. The final painting in acrylic includes symbols that represent her home state. It includes the state bird – a robin in flight – a lighthouse, the Mitten with a wave through it, and a cluster of cherries. The background depicts a Michigan sunset.
“The wave in the hand is for the Great Lakes,” she says.
Vivian says she spends a lot of time outdoors, so the nature theme of the painting came easily to her.
“I go out fishing a lot, so I always see the sunsets, and it’s definitely inspired me.” She says she also likes to paint landscapes and animals. “I like to center my work around nature for the most part.”
As an artist, Vivian says she enters art contests occasionally and is looking forward to the Congressional Art Contest this spring. The event she looks most forward to is the Wheatland Music Festival art competition. She attends every year and would like to see her design on the festival’s T-shirt this year.
She’s not the only artist at Bay City Central. “I definitely feel like art is a big part of what makes Central stand out. I feel like there’s a lot of different artists there.”
Kelcie Corrion and Deacon Hayward invited to join the All-State Musical Theater Ensemble
![]()
Graphic courtesy of Bay City Public SchoolsKelcie and Deacon are involved in Musical Theater at Bay City Central High School and will join 20 of the state’s top performers in the all-state ensemble.
Kaufman says Kelcie and Deacon earned top scores during the Musical Theater Solo and Ensemble Festival, which earned them the right to apply for the All-State Musical Theater Ensemble.
“Out of hundreds of Michigan high school students, they were both chosen,” Kaufman says
Kids learn essential skills in arts programs
Kaufman and Vanderveer see their students learn life skills through arts programs.
“I genuinely believe that theater is a wonderful thing for the kids because it broadens their horizons and gives them these opportunities and chances to do things that they normally wouldn’t do,” Kaufman says.
“They enjoy that they’ve done it and they continue coming back to keep doing it.”
One of the biggest benefits the students from performing, Kaufman says, is working together to accomplish a common goal.
“We have our go-to people that have no issue standing up and talking in front of a group of people and then we have the students that genuinely struggle to put themselves out there,” Kaufman says.
“I genuinely believe that theater is a wonderful thing for the kids because it broadens their horizons and gives them these opportunities and chances to do things that they normally wouldn’t do,” Kaufman says.
'I genuinely believe that theater is a wonderful thing for the kids because it broadens their horizons and gives them these opportunities and chances to do things that they normally wouldn’t do.'
– Jared Kaufman
“It’s great to build an environment where you have both of those types of people working together to accomplish something.”
Vanderveer agrees.
“I would say a lot of what we do is community building. Arts instruction is very much instruction on empathy and all of that expression and things and kind of relaying those through music. It's more than just reading notes and playing at football games and things like that.”
Young people primarily focus on instant gratification and immediate reward. Music also helps keep them focused on the big picture and on task. “This is one of the few things left that teaches kids about long-term goals and rewards.”
Vanderveer hopes to see even more success in the coming years. He took over Western’s band program two years ago. He follows in the footsteps of people who ran the program for decades. He sees his students’ successes at Solo and Ensemble Festival as wins for the student, the program, and himself.
“We’re just trying to get out there, not just doing concerts but putting ourselves into new areas; trying to plan venues or different avenues to keep things fresh and share what we do outside of our community as well,” Vanderveer says.
Kaufman adds that sending so many students to statewide programs shows this was an incredibly successful year for the arts in the schools.
“That kind of level of success, that’s a pretty phenomenal success rate for this year,” he says.
If you want a firsthand view of what’s happening in the arts programs at Bay City Public Schools, “Grease“ opens at Bay City Central on March 21 and runs through the 24th. Tickets are available at
https://gofan.co/event/1346714