As a 2006 Enumclaw High School graduate, I urge the citizens of Enumclaw to support the upcoming school bond.

It was great to see at the last school district meeting that the high school will get a wonderful redesign if the school bond passes. Overall this will be an amazing upgrade for the school and our students. All of the classes and programs will be greatly affected. For this letter, I want to highlight the specific area that pertains to my field of work and what I love, the arts.

The bond will upgrade many facets of the school, the classrooms, the library, the science labs, the music facility, auditorium, gymnasium and more. I am excited to see that the performing arts building will be completely rebuilt and have the new features that the students deserve. (If you are not aware of the current building issues, please read Darrell Miller’s letter to the editor: http://www.courierherald.com/opinion/letters/297277271.html)

I remember being in the auditorium when I was in high school watching short films, drama productions and music concerts. These were all experiences that helped me choose what I do today. In those moments I realized the positive effect that the arts have on an audience. How a great film, song or play can bring you to tears, or to uncontrollable laughter. These are experiences we cherish and that we talk about with our friends and family. These are the experiences that we, as a society, live for. The moments that take us out of our reality and transport us to the imaginary. These are the moments that I as a filmmaker try to replicate.

Early March of this year, I was awarded Best International Horror Film at a film festival in Hollywood for a short film I edited last fall. It was an incredible honor and I am very proud, but in the big picture of my career, it is just a small step. I am still learning my craft and I still have a long way to go, but I can honestly say I wouldn’t be where I am at today if it wasn’t for the EHS video productions class. It was a place where I could experiment with filmmaking at a young age and it is where I fell in love with the process.

After seeing the audiences’ reaction to some of my films, I decided that this is what I wanted to do. I’m not sure where I would be without those experiences. Maybe not in filmmaking, but I’d still be creating art, in whatever medium that may be. It’s like my favorite quote from John Lennon, “I’m an artist, and if you give me a tuba, I’ll give you something out of it.”

As a community we expect great things from our students, but we are hampering their talents by putting them in a building that is comparable to Frankenstein’s monster, pieced together from generations of buildings in various states of disrepair. We have given them a tuba, but imagine if we gave them a school that they should have. A school not equal to what they need, but equal to what they deserve. Then let’s see what great things they will produce.

I am in full support of the school district’s direction with this bond and I hope you are, too.

Ballots will be sent out soon. Please vote “yes” and mail it back by Tuesday, April 28.

Bryson Michael

Seattle