News

Our annual membership campaign Hearts for the Arts is in full swing and we thought it would be fun to offer a little something extra for our members.

All 2020-2021 HFA members will be entered into a drawing to have their favorite Cannon Coffee beverage named after them for a month.

The rules are simple: 

• If you haven’t already, join Hearts for the Arts. Everyone who has joined up to this point has been entered; new members are added to the drawing as their membership is received by our office. The sooner you join, the more chances you have to win!

• At the beginning of November, December, and January, we will draw one lucky winner and contact them to see what drink they choose for the month.* Must be a drink already on the Cannon Coffee menu, but there are many choose from!

• The winner and their selected drink will be announced and promoted on social media by Cannon Coffee and the BISFA Foundation throughout the month.

*For example, if BISFA alum Patrick O’Farrell (pictured with Cannon Coffee owner Lindsay Reese) were to be drawn as the winner, his favorite drink – the Macchiato – would be known as “Patrick’s Macchiato” for the month.

A big THANK YOU to board member Samantha Bodnar for taking photos and video, and Patrick and the team at Cannon Coffee for their help! 

Contest Winner Board

“One of my biggest passions is just helping,” said Jonathan Beattie, the new lead teacher at Barbara Ingram School for the Arts. “As a lead teacher, we help with the new technologies…. [and] new curriculum, but also help those that are masters in the classrooms be even better than what they are just by facilitating an environment that cultivates inquiry and cultivates discussion and reflection.”

Beattie joins the Barbara Ingram staff from Northern Middle School, where he directed the band for much of his career.

He started teaching full-time in 2009, though he started gaining experience while finishing his degree in 2006.

“When I went to Frostburg State University, I started as a physics major, but I knew I was going to teach, and between the two loves of science and music, I had to make a choice. At the end of the day, what do I want to teach? And teaching band was what I wanted to do,” said Beattie, who went on to obtain a master’s degree from Salem International University.

While music is his primary medium, Beattie is an art enthusiast overall.

“I love art. I sing, I perform. I was actually–my first job offers were tech… Lighting design [and] sound design has always been a fun passion, and it’s a really cool art to get into. Amateur photography. Love art, just in general… [my wife] and I both write when we can… I’m starting to learn painting.”

His passion for classical and technical arts have given him the chance to tech for bands like Third Eye Blind, perform with the National Symphony Orchestra for the Japanese ambassador as part of a fundraiser after a devastating tsunami, and sing the Star Spangled Banner at Camden Yards with other alumni from Frostburg State.

“I think that’s what I want the kids to know is you can have these opportunities, too…. If you work hard, you can do anything.”

We wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who supported the BISFA Foundation during Washington County Gives!

We are humbled by the generosity of our donors for supporting arts education in our community:

• The Anders Family
• Justin & Katie Anderson
• Peter & Brittany Arizmendi
• Carol Becker
• Pieter Bickford
• Samantha Bodnar
• Austin Britner
• Mary Anne Burke
• Cathy & Frank Bushey
• Ashley Cade
• Julie Cade
• Gosia Carter
• Ann & Breese Dickinson
• Mimi Dickinson
• The Fitzsimmons Group – RBC Wealth Management
• Katie Groh Fitzsimmons
• Ranelle Flurie
• Cynthia Garland
• Erin Gentzel
• Karen Giffin
• Ken & Ann Grove
• Heather Guessford
• Kim Halsey
• The Hamman Family
• Laura Herrera
• Dr. Robert Hovermale
• Linda & Steve Howard
• Denise Hunt
• The Jensen Family
• Michael Jordan
• Sherry & Keith Kibler
• Wallace & Diana Lee
• Kelsey Lorman
• Jillian MacMaster
• Kathleen A. Maher
• Melinda & Jason Malott
• Alfred E. & Claudia G. Martin
• Stacy & Graham McFarland
• Mary Medina
• Dean & Ashley Notabartolo
• Aaron & Vienna Notarianni Stephens
• The O’Farrell Family
• Cynthia & Peter Perini
• Leah Perry
• James Recabo
• Dare Ritter
• Dr. Teresa Roberts
• James and Christina Sandeen
• Randy and Renee Scott
• Ryan Smetzer
• Richard Stoner
• Mary Helen Strauch
• Robert Strauch
• Toby Towson
• Diane Verdier
• Charles Wainwright
• The Webb Family
• Marcella Whitmore
• Angela Yamashita

+ multiple anonymous donors

We were also fortunate to be the recipients of several prizes this year, which will directly support the student artists and educators at BISFA!

A Reflection by Kelsi Maddock

BISFA Foundation 2020 Summer Intern

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The conference table became my desk. I had a window to my right and a faux plant behind my laptop screen. Outlook lost itself in the open tabs of my internet browser. Every week from early May to late August, I returned to South Potomac Street to intern for the Barbara Ingram Foundation.

I graduated from the Creative Writing department in 2017, and the chance to return to my alma mater for a college internship credit with resume-building experience was an opportunity I could not pass up.

On Wednesdays, I went into the office and learned hands-on how a non-profit organization worked.

A single filing cabinet was not enough to track student grant proposals and keep a record of board meeting minutes, so the Foundation kept four. Executive Director Mimi Dickinson began her next Zoom meeting and Office Coordinator Jennifer Jensen updated the website with new information on the Summer Arts Academy. I created spread sheets of information regarding the debut of the Alumni Association and drafted thank you letters for donors.

My internship helped me achieve professional growth. There are a lot of career skills a classroom cannot teach you.

The first day I was in the office, I made calls thanking donors for their Giving Tuesday contributions. Some conversations had long pauses while the messages I left were a bit rushed. With the help of a bullet-list script and many phone calls later, I could have a brief business conversation.

I contributed to meetings on fundraising and diversity. While speaking with the “Hearts for the Arts” committee, I shared a list of fund distributions based on majors to be used in our promotional materials. During the diversity call, I suggested we look at smaller means of integration to coincide with the larger changes.

Being the Summer Alumni Intern also helped me grow as a person.

I practiced time management skills, as I worked early morning hours part-time at FedEx along with my internship. More importantly, I found confidence in my voice, especially when expressing creative or innovative ideas. This was shown in my conference call contributions, but my favorite example is my Summer Arts Academy post card letter and design.

And I taught a Zoom creative writing camp for the Summer Arts Academy! It was equal parts terrifying and thrilling; I came up with a lesson plan heavily modeled on my years as a Barbara Ingram Creative Writing student where we studied prose, poetry, workshop, and performance. I even wrote a piece of my own—something I had not done in an unfortunately long while.

What made interning at the Barbara Ingram Foundation even more special was my involvement in celebrating the graduates, which included my brother: trombonist Hunter Maddock. I assisted in hanging lamp post signs and worked behind the scenes on the social media contest coinciding with them. I even designed a map of the walk—Hunter’s sign looked over Public Square.

Although the ongoing coronavirus pandemic meant I was unable to meet donors in person, I am returning to Colby-Sawyer College, where I double major in creative writing and communication studies, for my last semester with a fulfilling experience to share with my peers. When I apply for my first job after college, I will be able to look back on this experience and realize how much it prepared me for my future career.

The English Department welcomes Secondary English Teacher Julia Reed-Young to the Barbara Ingram family. Excited to be at her dream teaching job, Julia comes to us from Hancock High School, where she’s been teaching secondary English since 2003. She dabbles in theatre, earned her minor in the art at the University of Pittsburgh, and her daughter, Anna, will be attending the Western Heights magnet program for music. Julia is most looking forward to “being around creative people who appreciate thinking outside of the box when it comes to learning.” She would tell her high school self to, “Keep marching to your own beat.”

The Mathematics Department welcomes their third math teacher, Stephani Hoffman to the Barbara Ingram family. Stephani comes to us from South Hagerstown High School, where she’s been teaching the last six years after four years in Frederick County. In addition to being a High School District Mathematics Lead Teacher for WCPS, she expresses her love for music by playing the flute and attending performances by her students. Stephani hopes to integrate the arts into mathematics to “help students to see the connections that can be made between the two” and “ultimately…give [her] students the tools they need to pursue their passions.” The advice she would give to her high school self would be, “to not be afraid of chasing your passion. It takes hard work and patience, but [it] is so worth it in the end.”