When you think of Florida, you automatically think of sun, beaches ... and retirees. When you think of Sarasota, you automatically think of sun, beaches and philanthropic, arts-oriented, wealthy retirees. It’s the image we’ve created and the standards we’ve set. I’m very arts-driven myself, and that may be why I’ve tended to focus my attention, interviews and features for the last three years on Sarasota’s older population.

Having been Ringmaster of Circus Sarasota or a judge on the Education Channel’s High School Idol competition, I’ve always known there was a flourishing schools and youth community in our county; after all, I’ve interviewed teachers and principals, school superintendents and school board members - heck, I’ve even walked past the Hollywood 20 movie theater on a Friday night - and only recently it’s hit home to me that Sarasota has fantastic kids. Lots of them. It’s really weird. It’s like I have some big Poobah in the sky looking down on me saying “Roles, now it’s time for you to really pay attention to Sarasota’s young people as well.”

It may have started with a visit to a luncheon held at the end of the last school year by the Fine Arts Society of Sarasota where they were giving out scholarships to gifted students who were heading off to college this fall. As a result of that luncheon, I devoted a whole radio show to The Cherryhill Project. Seventeen year old Pine View students Kaela Bratcher and Caitlin Whitehouse came in to promote their new CD Unsaid. They’re now studying music together at the University of North Texas.

Or maybe it was Talent Explosion 2008 at the Players Theatre, where Gayle Foster, Ellen Ross, Jeffery Kin and I co-chaired and co-produced thirty acts (twenty-four of which were made up of schoolchildren and students under the age of 18) that performed individually or in groups to a packed house and an amazing response. Guest performers at Talent Explosion, by the way, were talented ex-Pine View students May-Elise Martinsen (now at Wellesley College) and Greg Murphy (now at Maryland Institute College of Art). One of the evening’s standout performers was 11-year old Maria Wirries, who is the fi rst of my featured subjects in this article. More about her later.

My sudden preoccupation with our schools came to a head this past fall when I interviewed David Mahler of the Out of Door Academy, Betsy Asheim and Missy Owens of Bay Haven, and Paul Wenninger of New Gate and found myself attending the Arts Council’s Principal’s Luncheon, where Sarasota treasure Nancy Roucher helped me put a face to the names of all the Sarasota County school bosses.

And I can go on: I chatted in my studio with Sarasota School Board Chair Caroline Zucker and School Superintendent Lori White, as well as Riverview chiefs Linda Nook and Paul Gallagher. The latter invited me to Riverview High School’s Renaissance Feast and I was gobsmacked at the performances of the seniors, juniors and the “Mini-Minstrels” from Sarasota Middle School. I attended Booker VPA’s recent production of Godspell, because in this town you should never miss anything put together by the masterful Scott Keys. Selby Foundation’s outgoing President Debra Jacobs invited me to the Scholar Symposium at the end of December to mentor a student, and in January I’ll be revealing the secrets of my radio show to 200-plus elementary students at Manatee School of Arts and Sciences thanks to an invitation from Loryn Haber.

When I paid an early morning visit to Sarasota Military Academy in December to witness the whole school congregating in the courtyard for the flag-raising ceremony, I was blown away by their positivism and enthusiasm. I went there on the recommendation of Headmaster Colonel Daniel Kennedy to get to know 18 year-old Nick LeBoutillier, my second featured subject.

Do you see a pattern starting to form here? I’m not quite finished. Actor Dan Higgs and I became firm friends in 2005 when I played the creepy Bill Sykes against his even creepier Fagin in Bob Trisolini’s production of Oliver at The Players. Dan is married to the beautiful Shigemi, whose name means “Beautiful Forest” in Japanese, and their 17 year-old daughter Vera Shigemi Higgs is the apple of their eye. She’s won oodles of competitions and awards as an incredibly gifted concert pianist, which is why she’ll soon be going off to college to study law. Don’t even try working that one out. Just enjoy reading about Vera as my third featured student.

To all the schools, teachers and students, whom I know but had to leave out of this article, I promise to tell our Debbi Benedict to write about you in her column. But for now, here are my “3 Fantastic Teens To Watch In ‘09”.

MARIA WIRRIES

Life changed abruptly in August 2008 for the eleven year-old when she came, sang and conquered the Talent Explosion audience at The Players Theatre, earning herself a standing ovation lasting several minutes. Since then, it’s been non-stop performing for the home-schooled Maria, who began singing at boxing matches and rodeos when she was fi ve. Her two main hobbies are fi gure-skating and singing, so it was no surprise when her mother Jeaneen told me that her biggest desire is to sing in a Broadway show in New York and skate at Rockefeller Center, and of course “to become the fi rst Haitian-American woman to win a gold medal in the Olympics!”

Juilliard concert pianist Joyce Valentine has been giving Maria piano lessons for the past year and a half. “Maria is one of the most gifted children I have ever had the pleasure of working with. She’s so enthusiastic and eager to learn, and she absorbs everything so quickly. She has a fantastic ear for music, is extremely open and friendly, and has a delightful personality. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s capable of achieving great things in music. With her determination, desire and hard work, I know without a doubt that she’ll achieve her goals and more!”

If you’d like to hear Maria sing, on February 3rd she’ll be performing at the Meadows Country Club in Lee Dougherty Ross’ Dinner Gala A Court A-Fare, a fundraiser for the Artist Series. Maria will also be in the Sarasota Senior Theatre’s production of Hollywood The Musical at Booker VPA from February 26 thru March 1. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

NICK LEBOUTILLIER

When I asked Sarasota Military Academy Headmaster Dan Kennedy about his choice of “one to watch”, he had no hesitation recommending Nick LeBoutillier saying, “Nick is extremely articulate, intelligent, and self-directed. This young man’s future is quite bright.”

Nick has been attending the Academy for four years and is currently serving as Battalion Commander. He is a recipient of the Founders Award, the Academy’s highest award. Nick is ranked number one academically with a 4.5 GPA. He’s a member of the exhibition drill team, a member of the National Honor Society, and spends many hours per week volunteering at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and for his church, Sarasota Lutheran. He also mentors first and third-grade children in the reading program at Booker Elementary.

His brother Ben, 14, is a freshman at the Academy, and Nick and Ben’s parents are both pharmacists at Sarasota Memorial.

It was mother Laurie that made the decision to send Nick to the Military Academy:

“As early as pre-school, it was evident that Nick was especially gifted. He demonstrated exceptional abilities in math, and he excels in all academic areas. I see him making a difference in the future. Nick’s abilities & personality set him up to succeed in any endeavor he pursues. He will choose a path that will allow his success to positively impact our society. He is able to connect actions and theory — to see the big picture and understand what will affect it — and to know how to achieve a goal. Whether he chooses Medicine, Health Care, Engineering or the Military, our world will be a better place because of Nick.”

Nick has set his sights on studying engineering either at the University of Florida in Gainesville or at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. But not before he has run the 26.2-mile New York Marathon. Looking at this young man’s record, he’ll win that as well. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

VERA SHIGEMI HIGGS

Andrew Lane, Pops Conductor of the Sarasota Orchestra, recently wrote this testimonial for Vera: “Vera is a young artist with exceptional talent. I have had the pleasure of conducting three concerti with her as soloist. Her talent, knowledge of music and performance ability is superior for someone of her age. It was my privilege to share the stage with her. Vera receives my highest recommendation.”

Vera, who was born on July 14, 1991 in Annapolis, Maryland, is a straight-A student at Pine View School and has been named a National Merit Scholar Finalist. She studies classical piano with Jonathan Spivey, resident pianist of the Sarasota Orchestra, and is a three-time winner of the Edward and Ida Wilkof Young Artist Concerto Competition. She also won the State of Florida’s Youth Concerto Competition for the Tampa Bay Symphony and performed with the professional orchestra at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Mahaffey Theatre, and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. This past year she was the first junior to be chosen as Miss Pine View, an award based on creativity, poise and talent. Vera is also one of twenty-one senior girls chosen as a 2008-2009 Debutante from Sarasota and Manatee counties.

Although Vera’s father, Dan Higgs, is an established stage actor and director here in the area, Vera has never had any ambitions in that direction. “When I was about nine, I went to an audition for a musical and sang Somewhere Over The Rainbow,” she remembers. “I burst into tears when I finished! I think I knew then that I was much more at home playing Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto than becoming an actress.”

For the past three years, Vera has been a student lawyer for the Sarasota County Teen Court, an activity that has influenced her decision to ultimately study law. She has applied to Princeton, Harvard and Washington Universities, among others. She plans to major in English and International Relations, and minor in Piano Performance. Vera loves to travel, whether to Japan to visit her grandmother and her five aunts and their families, or living with a family in France as part of an exchange program.

You can experience Vera live on February 22 at the Church of the Redeemer, 222 S Palm Ave in Sarasota when she will be performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue as the featured piano soloist in a concert conducted by Dr. Anne Moe. Contact: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .