View photos of the 2008 BRAVO Gala.

View video coverage of the 2008 BRAVO Finalists

2008 BRAVO Award School Finalists

2008 BRAVO Award Specialist Teacher Finalists

2008 BRAVO Award Generalist Teacher Finalists

To view other Bravo videos, please go to the Music Center Multimedia Page.

Acclaimed producer and director, Garry Marshall hosted the evening and announced the winners. Colfax Avenue Elementary in Valley Village and San Marino High School in San Marino tied for the school award and each received $5,000. Janet Barker from Parras Middle School in Redondo Beach and Safini Convey from Mount Washington Elementary in Los Angeles tied for the generalist award and each received $2,000. Angela Gottschall from Hale Middle School in Woodland Hills won the arts specialist award and received $4,000.

Garry Marshall, Colfax Assistant Principal Susan Gomez, Colfax Principal Joanie Freckmann, and San Marino Principal Loren Kleinrock

Loren Kleinrock, Principal of San Marino High School - "San Marino High is honored to be recognized as a Bravo Awards winner. The arts have traditionally played an important role in our academically competitive environment. Through the arts, our students have the chance to express who they are as individuals and display a different type of creativity than that required in the core subjects. The arts provide balance in our students' lives and help them enjoy a complete education. Our VAPA teachers found the application process validating and came away with even greater pride in their department and its impact on the entire school."

Safini Convey, Janet Barker & Garry Marshall.

Janet Barker, Parras Middle School - "I am a better teacher because of the Bravo Awards process and, more importantly, my students are hipper, smarter, and more instinctually in-tuned. Yes, the application process was that profound. Why? Because I had to think deeper, more profoundly, about the beginning, middle and long-term impact I wanted my VAPA lessons to make on students. Like a book, all the chapters needed to make sense so that the earthquake experience-only the arts can provide—seeped into the bruised crevices of my magnificent eighth-graders. Participating in the Bravo Award is an experience, a process, a lifetime commitment, a vow, to do all that I can as a teacher to use the arts to engage my students' hearts, minds and souls. I'm happy, my students are happy, and that combination leads to more stimulated, more invested, and ultimately more successful learners."

Safini Convey, Mt. Washington Elementary School - "I am indebted to the Music Center for providing me an opportunity to engage in a process of rigorous self-evaluation. Moving through the steps of writing the application and preparing for the judges' visits, gave me the chance to acknowledge the successes of my arts program and to articulate new goals for myself and my students. I am thrilled and grateful to have been the recipient of a 2008 BRAVO award. In addition to confirming for me the power of arts education, it has been an endeavor which has helped me deepen, broaden, and invigorate my teaching."

Angela Gottschall & Garry Marshall.

Angela Gottschall, Theatre Specialist at Hale Middle School - Kids need to learn more than the right answers, they need to get excited about creating new questions, and working together to find solutions. They need to learn empathy – to value seeing the world through another's eyes and feeling with another's heart. My students already know the importance of the arts; the Bravo Award is like a 'shout out' to the world, reminding everyone to celebrate connecting creativity and education .