Six Students Earn SFAA Honors

Six FWCD students earned 2023 Slaughter Family Fine Arts Awards (SFAA). Frankie Leoni ’26 (Pop Music Vocal, Contemporary Instrumental), Nicolas Medaris ’23 (Musical Theatre Vocal), Olivia Miller ’26 (Painting), Vivian Richey ’25 (Dance Performance), Jessica Tomasic ’23 (Pop Music Vocal) and Margaret Watler ’24 (3D Art) were honored at a special ceremony on April 23 at I.M. Terrell Academy Auditorium. Each student winner earned a $300 scholarship on top of a $50 scholarship for being a finalist. More than 50 students were honored. 

This year’s presenters included J-Si Chavez (Dallas-based radio personality who captains KiddNation Kidd Kraddkick Morning Show and The Hollywood 5), Joel Ferrell (seasoned director, choreographer, educator and consultant), Nancy Lamb (internationally celebrated painter and sculptor) and FWCD’s very own Fourth Grade Teacher and Cheer Program Director Courtney Corbeille Krauss ’06 (dancer, performer and former NFL cheerleader). 

The SFAA Spotlight Series is already hard at work on its 2023 summer production, Chicago: Teen Edition, which runs June 23-24 in the FWCD Scott Theater. 

Founded in 2020 by Rebecca and J Mack Slaughter ’02, the SFAA celebrates and recognizes talent and dedication in students with a passion for the arts. The Slaughters formed the arts organization to give back to students in member schools, through both scholarship and performance opportunities, to students who love the arts in school or out of school. Those schools are All Saints’ Episcopal School, Fort Worth Country Day, Nolan Catholic High School, Southwest Christian School, and Trinity Valley School. Read more about the forming of the SFAA in its inaugural year in the 2020 Falconer article.