Editor and Publisher
WINONA - The community is mourning the loss of Patti Finley, music and performing arts teacher at Winona Elementary School, after she lost her six-month battle with cancer.
Finley passed away Thursday, February 18, 2010, her fiftieth birthday, at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Funeral services were held Sunday, February 21, 2010, at First Baptist Church of Winona, and hundreds of friends, family, teachers, and students attended the service.
Before her death, Finley was working to complete application requirements for the Winona School District's nomination for a Kennedy Center School of Excellence In Arts Education Award, which Finley was orchestrating for the district. Her original song, "Rise Above," sung by the Winona Elementary School show choir and the Winona High School show choir, is the centerpiece of a 20 minute DVD required for the judging process.
The students involved in the project performed "Rise Above" at her funeral service and received a standing ovation.
Just days before her passing, Finley accompanied her students to Delta State University to record the final footage for the DVD.
Kay Slocum, grandparent volunteer for the WES show choir, accompanied the group to DSU.
"Patti was the most talented and caring individual I have ever had the privilege of knowing," Slocum said. "She loved the kids and always wanted the best for them."
Slocum said, despite her weakening health, Finley encouraged her young musicians to seek perfection for the project.
"The Kennedy Center nomination was a life-long dream for Patti," Slocum said. "It is a shame that she won't be there when we win, but her spirit will be there in every one of those kids."
Mississippi State Senator Lydia Chassaniol, an active proponent of Winona's performing arts programs, said she has lost a dear friend.
"Only three years ago, Patti came to the Winona Elementary School to begin a new music program," Chassaniol wrote in her weekly blog. "In a school where there had not been a music education program, she was to begin one. And boy did she. In 2009, WES was the winner of the Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education Award. This year, they were the Mississippi school nominated for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts National Award. This was largely due to her hard work and determination."
Dr. Charlotte Tabereaux, Education Director at the Mississippi State University Riley Center in Meridian and executive director of the Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education, said after becoming acquainted with Finley several years ago, the two forged a strong friendship.
A speaker at Finley's funeral, Tabereaux encouraged the community to finish what Finley started.
"We are going to finish this," Tabereaux said.
Tabereaux also announced that Finley is the 2010 recipient of the Exemplary Arts Service Award that will be presented on May 17 at a dinner at the Riley Center. In addition, the award will be renamed the Patti Finley Exemplary Arts Service Award to be awarded each year to an individual who has active participation in the development of or support for arts programs, leadership in developing partnerships between schools and the community for use of cultural resources such as visits to cultural institutions, organizations, and events, advocacy for the arts and arts-in-education at the school district, community, regional or state levels, and financial or in-kind support of arts programs in a school district.
"I was the first person to receive this award in 2001," Tabereaux said. "So it is very special to me."
Tabereaux said this statewide honor was to be a surprise for Finley, and she hoped Finley would speak and show the Winona School District's nomination DVD. However, Tabereaux said she will show the DVD and hopes someone will speak on Finley's behalf.
"We need to share Patti's love and ability, and through her song ["Rise Above"] we can help a lot of people," Tabereaux said.
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