Whether it is visual or performing arts, VAPA day is a day dedicated to celebrating and appreciating the art departments here at Alisal.
The event is a collaboration between all of the visual and performing arts teachers. Art 1-2 teacher Adrian Cornejo, Art 3-4 teacher Andre Fernandez, Dimensional Art teacher Karina Garcia, Baile teacher Oscar Benavidez, Band/Music teacher Samuel Oh, and Drama teacher Veronica Pulido.
On April 11, 2025, Alisal celebrated its second VAPA day ever. “VAPA Day is becoming more of a tradition,” Cornejo said. “This is particularly important because, as part of the broader arts education movement, the day emphasizes the importance of creativity, cultural expression, and emotional intelligence through the arts.”
In the upcoming days, the VAPA classes were working hard in order to prepare for the event. Whether it was perfecting any last minute songs or dances or finishing up their art projects in order to have them displayed, the students were busy. “During class time we held rehearsals and put the choreography together. While some students were focused on the choreography others helped with vestuario or decorations,” Benavidez said.
Those who finished their projects early were able to help with the set up and help prepare for the event. “I helped my art teacher, Ms. Garcia, pin up the artwork for her 1-2 art class,” senior Kori Torres said. “It was pretty fun since I got to see the art before the day of the event.”
Similar to last year, there was a spirit week leading up to the event. However, according to Garcia, it wasn’t advertised as much as it was this year. “We planned ahead of time to ensure students were aware of the spirit week and advertised to our students to participate,” Garcia said. “We also coordinated with the Wellness Center to have a tie-dye workshop as a part of their Wellness Wednesdays the week before so students could have a tie-dye shirt ready for spirit week.”
The spirit week was as follows: Monday – Tie-Dye Day, Tuesday – Multicultural Art Day, Wednesday – Cartoon or Movie Character Day, Thursday – Musical Artist/Band Tee Day, and Friday – Trojan Pride Day.
Unlike last year, this year other clubs were able to join in on the event by selling snacks and drinks as well as including other clubs to show off their work. “This year we included a drawing station so students could participate and draw something as a community activity. We also included the metal works club,” Fernandez said.
The display panels at the event were covered in all types of projects that used all types of mediums. From watercolor, color pencils, ink, markers, oil pastels, acrylic paint, and black and white charcoal, everything was there. “The VAPA teachers work really hard to create diverse and unique projects for VAPA Day, all while focusing on the same core artistic mediums,” Cornejo said.
There were also several dimensional art projects like the pinch pots, straw chandeliers, wired and cardboard shoes, and enlarged origami pieces. Even the student’s of the Japanese class were able to participate by having their New Year’s Kanji on display.
“I thought it was interesting. All the art was so good,” senior Michael Torres said. “Lots were cute, like the clay pots. [I especially liked] the Shaymin pot.”
Some students were able to have most of their art projects displayed. Senior Laura Magana had a total of 6/8 of her projects displayed. “I had my 2 point perspective cityscape of Kyoto displayed,” Magana said. “I also had the lego still life, a bear with a fish that I made with oil pastels, two reverse charcoal portraits of Jung Hoo Lee and Mingi Song, and my painting of Oahu, Hawaii.”
Though the event started at 8:30am, it officially opened to the community at 3:30pm. At that time, the art walk started which gave community members the time to look around and admire the art on display before the Band students began their performance.
At around 4:00 the band students began their performance of “Beauty and the Beast”, “Espana Cani”, and “Nostalgia” in the amphitheater. “I decided to challenge this year’s band to play music that is way above their skill level,” Oh said. “Last year seniors were the best players I ever had of all the years I have taught at Alisal. I thought this year’s band would take more push and work to get them to play harder repertoire, but this year’s band is literally one of the best musicians I have had the honor to work with.”
At 4:10 the baile folklorico students began their performance with dances from different regions of Mexico such as: Nuevo Leon, Veracruz Fandango, and Tamaulipas. “At first, I was worried I might mess up, but once the music started, I tried my best to focus on the steps and just have fun,” dancing to Nuevo Leon, senior Paloma Delgadillo said. “The energy from the music and the clapping from the audience helped me feel more confident. I felt proud to be showing a traditional dance from Mexico and sharing it with others, it was a really special moment.”
“I was impressed by baile because to be able to dance like that, not only do you need to worry about yourself, but also the other girls you’re dancing with,” senior Alicia Ferrel said. “It’s a team effort.”
The event was not exclusive to the Alisal VAPA department. AUSD Mariachi and Folklorico were also present and performing at the event. Starting with the mariachi at 4:50- 5:05. Followed by the folklorico at 5:15-5:30. In between performances, the art teachers were able to welcome and thank those who attended the event before the last performance by the Danzantes Del Valle.
Year 2 of VAPA day was definitely a day to remember. Not only was it bigger and better, but there was also so much more art and talent that was able to be seen by the community. “We hope to continue having this wonderful event and hope that it encourages students to enroll in our classes so that we may offer new classes in the future,” Garcia said. Fernandez adds, “I would really like for the superintendents and other VAPA departments in our school district to come check out how it’s supposed to be done, because I think we did a good job in celebrating everybody’s accomplishments in the school year.”
