Phillip Womack (2001- counselor, 2009- visual art instructor)
Eddie Oliver (2001-2009 instrumental music instructor ) with Carl and Susan St.Clair 
Mollie Fry Gilmore (2001 counselor , now a PS staff member) with Jack Meza (AXPer 2002, counselor 2005-2008, Coordinator 2009)
Garret Wehrman (AXPer 2001, and as of 2009 the veteran counselor with the most experience of any counselor EVER!)
We can't believe we're almost to December! Here's the latest and greatest in AXP news.
We can always use more volunteers to assist in running the Musical Carnival during Family Musical Mornings, and we love to see AXP alumni and their families! If you are interested in volunteering on the following dates, e-mail musicalcarnival@pacificsymphony.org. Volunteers must be at least 13 years old.
Re-capture the magic and see your friends, teachers and counselors, AND see the Pacific Symphony's Tchaikovsky Spectacular for a special discount price! Don't miss the AXP 2009 Reunion on September 12 at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. Student tickets are $11, adults are
$22, and the AXP discount is only available by calling (714) 876-2336 or e-mailing arts-x-press@pacificsymphony.org. Make sure you let us know how many student and adult tickets you need and how you will be paying. You can pick up your tickets on concert night from the AXP table near the front gate. We hope to see you there!
the show's magic 
comes together. The kids really enjoyed seeing all of the different costumes, make-up, and set pieces up close. After our V.I.P. tour, we went to glaze our own pottery and make other forms of visual art that the kids are going to love showing their parents! After that, we walked all the way up to a park on the cliffs of Laguna that overlooked the ocean. All of the kids enjoyed playing games, being evaluated on their rooms (the scores were a little scary), and prepping for the talent show. After we ate dinner, we were so priviledged to be able to meet Carl St. Clair and listen to his inspirational advice for future artists. We then walked back to the Festival and got to appreciate more beautiful pictures, 
sculptures, and lots of other artwork. Finally, we watched the Pageant. The kids really liked the show, and couldn't stop talking about it. Now, they are all peacefully asleep and maybe dreaming about the show :). They can't wait for tomorrow when they'll get to see their parents and show off what they've been learning! See you soon!
Day 1- Games "Human Knot"
Shark Attacckkkk-do-do-do-do
Laguna Playhouse
Lunch Time
hey everyone! we hope you are all enjoying your extended vacations at home! today was a very busy day here at arts-x-press. we had another early wake up today at 715. we headed down to breakfast. had a quick meal. and then went on our jolly way. the kids have been doing a lot of work in their creative expression classes as you have read before. but i know you are all dying to know what the cool counselors do during creative expression. but you are going to have to come back tomorrow to check it out.
so after creative expression we were able to participate in our arts workshops again. and i can tell you that from what i have seen that the kids are really making a lot of progress in the short amount of time that they have been here. the parent presentation tomorrow is really going to be something great. we had a quick lunch and then we made our way down to laguna beach where we spent the day at the festival of the arts. after a long bus ride filled with songs that included baby shark. jack sparrow. and boom chika boom. when we arrived at the festival we were able to take a back stage tour of the pageant of the masters! we got to see the cast members hair and make up area. we also got to walk around on the actual stage and see a lot of the sets that were actually used in the show we just saw!
from there we walked on over to our dinner destination. while we were waiting for our pizza we were able to play some more new games. the kids also got to hear their room check scores. and well. ill just say they werent too happy with their results. we had some pizza for dinner and then we got to talk with carl st clair and were able to meet his wife susan. and his two children sienna and cade. the kids were really excited to be able to ask him all their questions.
from there we headed back to the festival and were able to walk around a little bit before the show to take a look at all the local artwork. some of the things that we saw were just jaw dropping. then we were able to see the pageant of the masters. AMAZING! it is just one of those things you have to experience for yourself. and thus. after a long day. a lot of the kids passed out on us on the bus ride home. yay! here are some other pictures from today.
day two is officially done. weve had a very busy time so far at arts-x-press. we started off today with an early morning wake up which involved using trashcans. tweetie birds. and megaphones. we started breakfast off with some eggs. french toast. and a lot of syrup. on EVERYTHING! like tator tots. after breakfast we went to creative expression. the kids were able to work on some things that you can all see at the parent presentation on tuesday! we then headed over to our arts workshops. next came lunch. we had a nice international meal today that included some spaghetti and tostadas! our meal was a lot shorter today and a lot of kids missed out on ice cream. sad face.
after lunch we headed to our theater spotlight workshop which was led by amy lousie who was the director of the theater show that we saw yesterday! she was a blast and full of energy. we did some warmup games and then everyone was able to recreate a scene from the play including the counselors (which in opinion were the best. but some may say i have bias.) 
after our great spotlight workshop were able to listen to two great young psyo members. one of which was tim who is a counselor next week. yay! your kids got some information on how they can become members so make sure to ask them about it if they are interested! after psyo we did an activity that we like to call bonding. make sure to ask your kids about it! (i dont say that phrase too oftern. do i?!) we then went back to the dorms. changed into our fancy arts-x-press shirts and then headed off to heritage park to see the pacific symphony orchestra preform! we were able to take a backstage tour. 
we ate dinner at the park and were finally able to meet carl st clair. we were able to talk to him and ask him questions. after that we enjoyed a wonderful preformance by the symphony and then headed on the bus to go back to vanguard. after some three minute showers the kids were able to go off to bed.
