January 18th, 2019

on
Welcome to another 
Friday Arts Wrap Up!
Congratulations to Durfee Art Student, Ronald Jeanty for being selected as a winner in the Bristol Community College, 2019 Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Breakfast Visual Arts Challenge! Here is a picture of his watercolor, done in Ms. Arsenio's Art Class!

Here are some pictures I would like to share from the Durfee Variety Show!  And a link to the show (thanks FRED TV!): 2019 Variety Show











And a few pictures from the ceramics classes run by Ms. Barbara Mullen and Ms. Heather Pereira!



So much to say!  First, when it rains, IT POURS!  We embodied this statement all week, with the amount of support we have received for our Durfee Music Program!  First, we received a check from the Michael Troy Foundation for $5,000 to purchase quality instruments for our program.  Second, we were presented with a check for just over $500 to purchase new Durfee Color Guard Flags from a local donor!  And third, I had a BIG surprise when I received a call from Ernie Boch Music Drives Us representative Jackie Bell, letting me know that my grant application for $10,000 had been accepted!  This $10,000 grant will be used to purchase band and orchestra instruments for our Durfee Music Students.  So, why is this important?  Ask Nicole Laprise- she will tell you that there are times when students are being adjudicated by judges and they are playing at a superior level, but cannot be ranked as such because the instrument's quality does not allow for the best sound production.  These grants will put the best instruments in the hands of our kids, and they will be competing at a high level with students from other (higher socioeconomic) districts, and THAT'S THE WAY IT SHOULD BE.  The message this sends to Our Kids is: YOU are important, we will not give up on you and YOU CAN DO IT.

 The WRAP UP:
  • This week, at Durfee, teachers worked on the traits and attributes of the Durfee Grad.  In the fine and performing arts department, we had some fun with the task, and not only drew the "portrait" of the graduate, but also wrote a "rap" listing these attributes... and performed it at the faculty meeting!  Good times!
  • On Wednesday night, Ms. Mary Zema led her Durfee community based students in the most amazing and heart felt show.. (see pics above) The Annual Durfee Variety Show was a compilation of work from the guitar and piano classes, and even had percussion performed by our students.  It was so amazing to see students with a variety of abilities be able to just express themselves through music.  Students, verbal and non, singing, playing drumming, and reading to the audience...  I cannot say enough about this night each year, and how proud it makes me feel to have THE Ms. Mary Zema on our team.  Hats off to her for pulling off another AMAZING performance. 
  • Also this week, All City Band and Orchestra practices began at Durfee for students from all elementary and middle schools!  This weekly lesson is what makes our program that much better- it gives our kids an opportunity to practice with older students as mentors as they are led through lessons with more complex pieces.  The practices are held weekly on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons and the All City Band/Orchestra Concerts are held on the 26th and 28th of March, respectively.
Looking Ahead:
  • Looking Ahead, we have the HUGE FRPS K-12 Arts EXPO happening on Thursday, April 25th, from 5 to 7PM, followed by the Durfee Spring Concert, Part I.  The following Thursday, May 2nd, we have the Durfee Arts Festival from 5 to 7, followed by the Durfee Spring Concert, Part II!  
  • The Third Grade students from HLCS, Letourneau, Tansey, Spencer Borden and Fonseca will be heading to the Zeiterion on Tuesday March 5th for the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra's School Program- Resourceful Composer, Resourceful Planet.  This concert is the culmination of work done both in the 3rd grade classrooms as well as in school auditoriums with our kids- they learned about how composers throughout history re-used and re-purposed pieces in their work, just like how we recycle plastics and paper...  The music teachers in this program make connections between the science behind recycling and how composers recycle in music!  Great stuff!  I will be ordering the buses for this event, so teachers, make sure you are collecting permission slips and reminding classroom teachers of the event.  Also- try to keep the chaperone numbers within Terry's recommendation (1 to 20 students, unless special ed requirement).
  • PD Day!  It's coming!  On Friday, February 1st, we will be meeting as a group to continue our work with the foci from last PD day....  Here is a summary of what we will be working on:
    • Part I: We will do our first collaborative dive into the National Arts Standards in groups by content and grade levels, discuss how we will move toward using these in our weekly practices and how they can form our map revisions. We will also model or discuss possible art, music and theatre lesson task ideas using these.  
    • Part II: During this time, we will break into content specific groups (art/music) and dig deeper into how at each grade level, students can model the strands of the National Standards for the Arts. With laptops/chromebooks, we will begpin to modify our K-5 and 6-8 Maps to include these, and link them to our existing lessons.
    • Part III:   In this second part of a two-part PD on SLG Assessments, we will be checking in on how each of us are assessing Student Learning Goals. Please be prepared to show/share what tool/s you are using for this measurement, as we will spend time hearing from each of you!  
    • Monthly Department Meetings- Thursday, January 31
      • K-5 Music: Lesson Share Time- 3:45 at Letourneau
      • K-5 Art: Chalk Pastel Demo (Ms. McG at Tansey, 3:45)
      • 6-8 Art and Music: Lesson Share Time- would you like to do a demo like K-5 or continue mapping virtually? LET ME KNOW!  I will send a survey.
Have a wonderful long weekend, 
-Jackie

Comments

Post a Comment