From the desk of Justin Parks, Executive Artistic Director

From the desk of Justin Parks, Executive Artistic Director…

I’m approached almost daily with the same essential question: “How are things going to be different this year vs. last year/past years?” It’s a great question and I’m happy to answer it. After spending an hour with a dozen individuals I finally figured out I should go public with my answers so we can all be on the same page.

Here are the areas of change I see coming this season:

1) We all want scholarships for kids and families that don’t have the means to afford CYT but its not a funded endeavor yet and my sense is that we can improve in our communication about the availability of financial aide. We will be making big strides toward both areas. The goal is for over 100 students in need to finding financial aide at CYT this ’10-11 season. And long-term we will be dialoguing with strong CYT supporters about the creation of a separate endowment for scholarships and other student/program needs.

2) Our classes are taught by excellent instructors. To continue to retain them and attract more high-quality instructors we are raising our teacher pay scale. They have not received a starting wage increase for 8 years. In addition, each class we offer offer now has specific benchmarks for achievement during each 10 week session. Check out our catalogue online and note those benchmarks for the classes you are signed up for. We want our classes to be fun AND skill-building.

3) Production values. By cutting back and eliminating some other unnecessary line items such as overpaying for theater space and for royalties, we will be able to achieve better-looking shows onstage by raising costume and scenery budgets without more overall revenue required. This will also assist our best lead volunteers who are often using their own funds to cover unrealistic budgets given them.

4) Technical sound/lighting equipment and ongoing training. We owe a debt of gratitude to all of the volunteers that have toiled in the past to run tech on a shoe-string budget. I will be diligently working to add 20 more mics to our inventory by the end of 2010. We have been asking our directors/technicians to mic whole productions with sometimes as little as just 8 mics which is unrealistic and makes the kids look bad. We’re asking for 20 families/supporters of CYT to give $1000 each by the end of September to purchase a brand new state of the art system that can be used for most of our 12 CYT shows this season as well as CCT this summer for adults and kids alike.

In addition to our mic campaign, we have secured Fedora AV to be our additional sound and lighting rental needs at a deep discount and to be our chief consultants that volunteers can turn to in their times of need during production weeks.

5) Which brings me to CCT. Christian Community Theater! Next summer of 2011 we will be staging a full-scale musical for all ages to participate in. Moms, dads, teachers, directors, grandparents, alumni/students and all will be invited to audition or participate behind-the-scenes. This will be high-quality, top-notch production that will also be a summer fundraiser for the lean summer months that CYT goes through each summer financially. Get your audition songs ready all you adults chomping at the bit to be in a show!

6) As you may have noticed our website look and program has changed (I know…again ☺) However, I believe this change will stick. Beth Maxwell has reported about our new website system (called iStar) after one month of use that all reports are automatically generated saving time, managing customer info is much easier and the balancing of financial reporting has been an upgrade. We also now have control of our own website content and it will save CYT more than $5,000 per year for years to come.

7) Can I tell you about how impressed I am with the directors/artistic teams for CYT Vanport so far. They are just awesome. Your students are going to be in really good hands with our teams. My overall goal on the directing side is to amp up our level of choreography for our productions by bringing in some studio quality instructors (to go along with our already stellar group of choreographers!) Students will be challenged in their abilities more this year than any other year especially in the area of dance. Serious about becoming a professional someday? Sign up for Project Dance in Vancouver if you want to work with our Internationally known choreographer, Julio Fuentes. His work consistently gets 1st place trophies for Musical Theater at National and Intl competitions each year. Don’t miss out on auditions Sept 14.

8) Beaverton. I have learned that one of the chief ways to be blessed as a ministry is to make CYT as open to as many kids and communities as possible. By faith, we are moving forward with the Beaverton/Hillsboro program even though maybe outsiders might see it as risky. CYT expanding to more kids/families is an integral part of staying true to our mission statement. As of this writing 30 students are already signed up to audition for Schoolhouse Rock at the Venetian Theater this fall. Come support this movement and let’s see what God does.

9) The last thing you may notice as different this season is that we are refocusing as a ministry on how to make CYT even more participation- friendly. In the past there have been some requirements and practices that we are re-examining and in many cases overturning. Yes, parent volunteer work is still vital but instead of requiring 40 hour minimum we are reducing that number to 25+ hrs which is more in line with the CYT national standard. Our core people can still give more, but think how intimidating that number is to a new family? Our cast sizes will be larger (and this will help ease parent hour loads as more parent pitch in), we are selecting shows that allow for more participation in general and that have affordable royalty costs and are also school day/curriculum-friendly. Some of shows might have the stigma of being “little kid” shows but the reality is there are more roles for all ages for most of 12 shows we have selected this season. In addition, students that are not cast in a show that is maxed out will be given opportunities to join the chorus of another CYT area’s production if that cast is not at least 75-80 students. Younger students will also have the chance to buddy up with our older students, so your Safety Buddy at the theater will now be assigned the first week of rehearsal, older student to younger student mentoring will be a bigger focus this season. This is a great year to be a first time auditioner for CYT !

If you have ideas, questions, concerns or would like to pitch in to any of the causes I’ve mentioned, please email me at j.parks@cytvanport.org I’d love to hear from you!

Bethany Shares Her Thoughts

Dear CYT Friends and Families,

I can’t tell you how excited I am about our incoming Executive Artistic Director, Justin Parks.  Justin was the CYT National Expansion Director when our family moved from Spokane to Vancouver in 2001.  He was my coach as I laid the groundwork for CYT Vancouver.  He came to Vancouver to help lead our Interest Meeting in the Spring of 2002 and came back again in the summer to help run our first week of summer camps. 

Since then, Justin has been a source of encouragement and wisdom to me.  He is faithful to check in with me two or three times a year to see how things were going and offer advice.

As we prepare for Justin and his family to arrive (August 1^st) we have some things we need for them:

·      An economical car for Justin to use

·      A 4 bedroom home

·      Furnishings for their home

We also need a volunteer to step up and coordinate the gathering of furnishings for their home.  If you can help with any of these things, please email me (B.Larson@cytvanport.org).  Please check with people you know, or your church, about any house that might be available. 

Justin will be coming to Vancouver for a few days this month.  We’d like to invite all of you to a “State of CYT Meeting” on Tuesday, June 22^nd, 7 p.m. at First Church of God in Vancouver(park in the north/back parking lot).  You’ll get to hear Justin’s vision for CYT Vancouver/Portland and will also hear an update from our board regarding our finances. 

God has really taken care of our company over this last season, providing some amazing volunteers to help us stay viable!  Thank you for your continued support of this program and for being a part of the CYT family.

Exciting Announcement: Executive Artistic Director News!!

Dear CYT VanPort Family,

We have an exciting announcement:  The Executive Artistic Director for CYT Chicago, Justin Parks, through the blessing and support of his Board of Directors and the Expansion leadership in San Diego, has agreed to be the Executive Artistic Director for CYT VanPort for one year.  He will be part-time for us from June 1-July 31 (from Chicago) and then full-time on site in Vancouver from August 1 through June 2011.

Justin comes with a wealth of knowledge in the area of CYT. First as a CYT student from age 12-18, then as a director with the CYT San Diego program from '93-97. In 1997 he co-founded the CYT Chicago program which has grown to over 7000 enrollments per year and audiences totaling] over 100, 000 per year.  In 2000, Mr. Parks also co-founded CYT Kansas City and served as the National Expansion Director in 2001-02 during which he helped launch new CYT’s in Denver, Richmond and in Vancouver!
We believe he will be able to do for us what he did for CYT Kansas City in one year:  create a strong foundation for a long-term, viable CYT ministry that can serve the VanPort area even better than before.  Some of his tasks will include but not be limited to:  increasing overall sales, eliminating all unnecessary expenditures, expanding Board participation, expanding programming where needed, evaluating and, in general, fine tuning all aspects of the CYT VanPort. Finally he will be the chief advisor to our Board in the hiring of a long-term Business Manager in the immediate future and an Artistic Director to take over when he leaves.

Justin will be traveling to Portland for a visit around June 20-23 with his wife, Rachel. At this time, a review of the 2010-2011 budget will take place with the Board and changes will be considered for the upcoming season. Justin will meet with current staff to go over thoughts about the transition. Also Justin will participate in a Parent meeting to share his vision with parents. Justin and Rachel are also hoping to view housing options. They have four children ages 1-7 and because of a significant pay-reduction they are taking hope to secure free or reduced cost housing during their stay in our area.  If you have any housing leads please email or call Bethany Larson. 

As you know, Bethany Larson has been the interim Executive Director and Anne Dunlop the interim Artistic Director while the board considered options for the future.  They will be assisting Justin during the transition over the next few months as Justin comes on board.

We are thankful that Lord has provided this opportunity to bring Justin to CYT VanPort. We are also thankful that the CYT Board in Chicago has generously offered allow Justin to take a leave of absence to come assist CYT VanPort as well as contribute financially towards this venture. It is all truly an answer to prayer and we look forward to how things will develop in the coming weeks and months.

Sincerely,

Board of Directors

CYT Vancouver/Portland

Bringing Home The Bacon

CYT needs your input and ideas!!

As any thriving business, CYT needs to increase sales. We would like to attract more patrons, more students, advertisers, refreshment buyers, and renters of our props/costumes. 

In the organization, we have 7 areas that provide revenue and sales. The revenues gathered are then spent on items such as venues, shows, equipment, and salaries. The seven profit centers with CYT are as follows:

• Class Tuition
• Box Office Revenue (Tickets Sales)
• Souvenirs
• Refreshments
• 50-50 Raffle
• Rentals of our sets and costumes
• Program Advertisement

CYT Board Member John Villani

Good Morning! Yes, you’ll hear me say that no matter the time. I love the morning. It’s fresh, exciting and begins God’s wonderful gift of another day. I love God and Jesus as well, they are my buddies. We discuss all aspects of my life as I believe they are far wiser than I.

I have been married to my best friend, Kristi, for almost 15 years. We have three very wonderful, but very different children. Ian, 19, served a year on mission, most of it in Mexico and is now attending Mt. Hood. He is recently engaged, planning to marry in May 2011. Anthony, 17, is beginning the steps to become a veterinary assistant as he loves animals. Alyssa, 12, is homeschooled our CYT kid. She absolutely loves CYT and the relationships she has developed.

Bulk Buying for CYT Products

Hi,

One area that we are going to be implementing for CYT is a low-effort, but high-impact method to cut our costs. It involves the concept of buying in bulk, or arranging for purchasing agreement with vendors.

Many of the items we buy, can be bought from vendors where if they know we are going to be buying from them over a long period of time, we can arrange for good deals. It is also possible that we might be able to buy in large quantities in order to secure deals.

A key person to getting some of these deals setup will be Justin Riley. Justin served the Board for several months in 2009 as our President and will now be helping with purchasing arrangements for supplies, consumables, souvenirs, refreshments, etc..

I had an opportunity to discuss this with Justin recently. Here is what I learned.

Introduction to Board Member--Bruce Head

Hello, I am Bruce Head, husband, father and business owner. I have been married to Kelly Head for 24 years. 

Kelly and I moved to Washington State directly after getting married and all of our children were born in Vancouver. I have a college degree in Agricultural Business Management through California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo California. It was while I was attending Cal Poly that I met Kelly in the dorms. 

A video tour of the new CYT warehouse

Hello everyone,


I know that many folks may have not made it over to see the CYT office and warehouse. This center of activity is so important to our success. It is here that virtually all the inner-workings, administrative, training, storing, and organizing takes place. It has been a hive of activity since we took possession in early December 2009.


Please watch the following.

Musings on the last few weeks.

Lots has been happening and I'll try and update you on as many things as I can. Probably take a few posts to catch everything up.

Couple of additions to the board. It is great to have both Bruce Head, as well as John Villani join the board. Both of these gentlemen are currently writing up an introduction and I'll post here as soon as they get them to me. I'll be hounding them and will have within a week. Hold me to the promise. 

Thank You!

I just wanted to say thank you to all the people that made the move to our new location happen!

It was a pleasure working with you all, and I think we can be proud that we moved almost everything in under 12 hours. Starting before 8 in the morning and closing up shop after 8 in the evening was quite an undertaking.

From our brothers and sisters at Crossroads who took time out of their weekends to help us, to the CYT parents and students (Robes, Daniels, Valaers, Thatchers, Larsons, Maxwells, Grazians, and many more that I'm sure I'm forgetting...) - it was a great showing, and something I was proud to be a part of.

Good luck to all of our families involved in auditions this weekend - it should be a great season!

God Bless,
Justin Riley

Insight into the Casting and Auditions Process

Hi everyone,


The Board recently talked at length about more transparency into how the audition and casting process works. Anne Dunlop agreed to write up some details about how this works. She is also interested in hearing, as are all members of the Board, your input and questions. Here is the summary that Anne put together. 

Can you believe that auditions for our next session start this week?  It seems like we just finished our last 3 shows.  In our last board meeting we had a discussion on what artistic teams do behind the scenes at auditions, and what the guidelines are for providing feedback to students afterwards.

I thought this would be the perfect week to give you, our families, some insight into the “closed doors” and maybe prepare you a bit more for the auditions ahead.

Over the past several years, we have worked with our artistic teams, setting up “safe guards” so to speak, to squelch any appearance of favoritism.  This will always be a concern, and it is one we are always striving to make sure does not happen, while still giving our artistic teams

Some great events.

Hi everyone,



It has been a busy week for the CYT families. I know of several different events that have occurred.

It would be great to have others provide comments if you were at one of the events as I wasn't at each event or for all the time, but I'll try to quickly cover the major events.

1. There was a CYT party for ticket sales. I've heard great things about the turnout and the fun, but will need someone to tell a bit more about it.

2. There was meant to be a cast party for the Advanced Acting Class for "You Can't Take it With You", but that had to be called off because of the snow. Looking forward to round 2 of that.


3. There was a fantastic painting party at the new