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Joyce Hall
Joyce hailed from West Virginia.
She said her high school experience was great because she was just ‘Miss Everything’. She then attended West Virginia University followed by Barry College and did graduate work at the University of Miami. After a couple years as a middle school English teacher, she was summoned to Nova as a substitute. Due to outstanding performance, she was made a ‘permanent’ sub within the year and was then offered a full contract.
Nova was conceived as a modern experimental state of the art school for science and math. The conceivers didn’t get the importance of ‘the arts’ in the beginning. With Allen’s predecessor and as she recalls, “help from the Buckleys”, Joyce directed 2 musicals that were performed at a neighboring high school since Nova didn’t have a performing facility. She said a bunch more about doing those shows that she didn’t want in print. She then became very busy in the English department and simply waited for Allen to arrive.
Allen knew that music was his profession at a very early age.
While Joyce was jitterbugging across West Virginia, Allen was growing up on a farm in central Ohio. He attended Graham High School with a graduating class of 98 people. He went to Morehead University in Kentucky on a full music scholarship for 2 years then transferred to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. He graduated from the Conservatory of Music with a degree in Music Education and a double major in Piano and Organ.
Allen Hill
The move to Florida was also destiny.
Many times in the middle of winter on the farm feeding livestock in 10 below zero weather, he would say to himself, “If I ever get out of here its going to be a warmer place.” His 2nd year of college he was one of those ‘spring break’ visitors to Fort Lauderdale, and within 15 minutes of arriving, knew this was where he was coming after graduation. Allen had sent his resume to both Broward and Dade Counties looking for a music teaching position and within a couple of weeks of graduation, he received a call from the head of music for Broward County Schools, Ron Davis. There was a position open at the experimental high school Nova and Ron thought he should be considered for the job.
Joyce and Allen would be the first to say that none of their success could have been accomplished alone.
At the top of the ‘most important’ list is the incredible Tom Williams.
Tom was the band director at Nova while Joyce and Allen’s union was developing. His immense talent as a conductor and arranger and
his ultimate willingness to ‘join the party’ made the production team complete. There are of course others deserving of recognition as the performing arts school developed but in fear of leaving someone out, they will be mentioned later.
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