The Vivian Peterson Auditorium is the mediary to students’ creative identity. This is a space that can be used to showcase accomplishments, present ideas and discussions, and further learning. Through the auditorium, students are able express themselves creatively and can bring light to talents and skills they spend countless hours of excruciating work. Fine arts students use this space as their gateway into exploring their passions and finding who they are as an individual. These same students find a community they can truly connect with and can feel a sense of purpose and belonging. The auditorium serves a foundation to build lifelong skills of teamwork, resilience, compassion, and commitment. These same qualities can be found in other extracurricular and sports, yet the fine arts are extremely underfunded which limits the ability for the fine arts to truly build these skills without limitations.

The auditorium in its current state is nearly non functional, and fine arts students have been left wondering how long they have left in the space and whether or not the space will remain safe for them to use. 

We are asking for your support so that the school board can address the current issues of the auditorium and what they will be doing to remedy the situation we find arts students find ourselves in. 

If you are unable to attend the October 15th school board meeting at the Harlem Administration Building (8605 N 2nd St, Machesney Park, IL 61115), please sign this petition! This is to showcase to the school board that the fine arts deserve just as much priority as any other extracurricular or sport. 

Also please feel free to leave comments showcasing how you have been impacted by the auditorium and possibly briefly who you are (whether you are an Alumni, Parent, Student, etc.). 

From the current and future students who find and will find refuge in the auditorium and the fine arts, we thank you.