By Stephanie Necuze, Florida Grand Opera

This September, Florida Grand Opera, a Knight Arts grantee, will be launching a new education program called Teen Council. This year-long, career-centric high school program is designed to give students who are interested in the arts a real world look at arts administration and to introduce them to the South Florida arts community. The program’s motto says it all: Connect. Communicate. Create.

Connecting with FGO professionals from different departments, students get comprehensive, practical training through creative and interdisciplinary projects and will be able to get an up close and personal look at what the opera art form is like behind the scenes. Much more than an afterschool program, Teen Council is a mentorship initiative that follows students from high school through the college process in order to give them insight that will help determine the direction of their future careers by working with professionals already in the industry. As part of the program, students will have the opportunity to create events and initiatives for their peers, communicating what they have learned about the South Florida arts scene.

“It is a wonderful and unique program for students that are interested in becoming a part of the South Florida arts scene”, says Cerise Sutton, Director of Education for Florida Grand Opera. Having executed the program before in another opera company, Cerise knows the potential the program has and is confident in its success.

Students interested in participating require a teacher recommendation. To submit a letter of recommendation from a teacher stating why a student is qualified for the program, please contact Cerise Sutton at [email protected] or by phone at 305.854.1643 x. 1100. The deadline for submissions is September 16, 2011.