Working toward a career that would combine her love of teaching and the arts, in January Fairfax resident Erica Westcott took an internship at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Her internship in the Kennedy Center's education department allows her to learn more about arts administration before she heads to graduate school in the fall. A graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Westcott is also a singer, dancer and camp director. Recently, she sat down and answered a few questions about herself and her internship.
How long have you lived in the area and what brought you here? All my life. I was born in Fairfax Hospital and went to Fairfax County Public Schools until I went away to college.
Education: I graduated from James Madison University in December with a music degree and a minor in women’s studies.
Family: Both my parents live in Fairfax down the road from me. My sister, Katie, is three years older, and she’s getting married in September. That’s the big family excitement for now. She currently lives in Arlington and works in Tysons Corner at Freddie Mac.
What brought you into the internship? I’m looking to head back to grad school in the fall, in arts administration. I wanted to get more experience in the arts administration field and see if I liked it before I spent the money on school. I was student teaching for a while, at Fairfax High School and Carl Sandburg Middle School [in Alexandria]. There are so many arts organizations in D.C. and I just applied to a couple.
Activities/interests/hobbies: A lot of performance-based things. I love to sing in choirs; I sing with the National Philharmonic Singers and National Philharmonic Chorale. We performed at Strathmore Center. I also dance, not as much as I could, but I help Fairfax High School with their production. I love to travel, but it’s hard on a student budget. I also run a summer camp at a place called Shrinemont, a music and drama camp. Kids come and in the course of a week put together a production. I started as a camper there in 1993, it’s my fifth year on staff.
Describe your job. I work with the National Symphony Orchestra in the NSO education department. My primary responsibility is in the school ensemble program, which sends small groups into D.C. public schools at no cost to the school. Every Fairfax County fourth-grader comes to see the Young People’s Concert, an NSO concert designed for youth; so, bringing students to the Kennedy Center to see performances. We also have the Young Sololist Competition, which was won by a Woodson student, Monica We. Mostly, it’s helping music get out into the community and the community in to see the music.
Career goals: I’m hoping to go back to grad school in the fall. I’ve been accepted to a few places and I’m going to visit them in the next few weeks. I’d love to do something involving my education background and my passion, which is working in an education center in development or in administration. I’d love to do anything involved with the performing arts.
Where do you like to hang out in the community? I love Burke Lake Park. Growing up, my dad and I would play Frisbee golf there. I also love the Great American Restaurant chain, and I’m a big fan of Noodles & Co.
Community concerns: I’m an educator, so a lot of my concerns are about arts and education. Fairfax County is pretty good about arts education, and that’s always a concern of mine—to make sure arts education continues to be funded. But there’s a difference between the two schools I taught at. Fairfax High School was one of Fairfax County Public Schools first high schools, and so they had a great arts program. But Carl Sandburg was in a rougher area; it wasn’t that the administration was not supportive; they don’t always have money to buy new music. Often people donate to their own schools but often their own schools have resources. So maybe if people donated some to needier schools and some to their own school. And of course traffic.
Last book you read or the last movie you watched: “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” I’m a big fan or recorded books, commuting from Fairfax every day. The last movie I saw was “The Departed.”
If you could go on a road trip anywhere in the U.S., where would you go? I’d do a cross-country trip. I’ve always wanted to do one and to see all the random little things you don’t get to see as often. Also, Chicago. I haven’t been since I was little. New York City is also a favorite destination of mine.
Personal goals: To learn as much as possible as I can at the Kennedy Center about the world of professional music. I had the opportunity to see the final dress rehearsal of the Washington National Opera with Placido Domingo. Also, go to school and live in different cities. Lastly, teach kids about art; get [them] involved in the arts.
— Lea Mae Rice