To: Prince William County Public School Board

Save the CFPA Creative Writing Program

In the fall of 2016, the Center for the Fine and Performing Arts (CFPA) will move from Woodbridge Senior High School to the new high school on Hoadly Road; it has recently been decided that the Creative Writing concentration will be discontinued, thus eliminating one of the very few arts-intensive creative writing programs for high schoolers in the entire country. This petition is to save the CFPA Creative Writing Program.

Why is this important?

I am a graduate of the CFPA Program in Creative Writing. It taught me everything I know about writing and allowed me to follow my passion when I was only 14. I discovered not only who I was as a person while studying there, but also that my voice was valuable and powerful. Creative writing is a unique art in that what we learn from it will follow us our whole lives. With the constant testing and standardization in English classrooms, creative writing classes are an essential place where students can come to understand that writing can heal us and enchant us--it is an art that makes us human and should have as much attention as any other art form. Please sign this petition to save the CFPA Creative Writing Program, and pass it on to anyone who believes that our students deserve better than this.