Week Ending 9/28/18

David Goggins.  

He could have been a Fall River kid.  Labeled a special ed student, came from a home filled with turmoil and abuse, and a minority.  In his twenties, he realized he wasn't going anywhere in life as he worked nights spraying restaurants for cockroaches.  One night, he sees an advertisement on TV for the army/navy and he decides to make a change.  He struggles through weight loss, depression and constant road block after road block to better himself to the point where he, with broken bones in his feet, still managed to complete "Hell Week," an excruciating training program for Navy Seals.  And after failing on the first week, he does it AGAIN and succeeds.  

Like he says here in the quote above, we ALL get to a point where we want to quit...  It's what we do at that point that defines us.   

Remind your students of this mindset when you give them something super challenging to do- whether that is composing loops for a soundtrack, hitting that high note, building a ceramic vessel, or capturing that still life in its' exact light.  Or maybe, it's just showing up- EVERY DAY.  

And NEVER GIVING UP.  

In the News This Week:

The Massachusetts Cultural Council has granted FRPS Fine and Performing Arts $3,500 in transportation funding to allow elementary students to visit an art museum in the spring of 2019!

Talbot and Morton Art and Music teachers collaborated for the first time "virtually" on the Google Drive to build a common curriculum map.  Awesome work!

Becky Jontos from Letourneau is piloting a new online music curriculum based on national music standards called Quaver- so engaging!  Check it out HERE

On Tuesday night, we gave out over 200 string and band instruments to students in elementary schools!  Awesome job goes out to Band and Orchestra Directors and their fearless volunteers! 

We are excited to dig deeper into goal setting and rigorous planning in the arts on Monday afternoon as a team!

The K-5 Music Teachers will be meeting on Thursday October 4th at 3:45 at Letourneau!  They will be visited by Amelia Nixon from the Rhode Island Philharmonic to receive PD on the Carnegie Link Up Program for 5th graders!  Get those recorders READY!  :)

Massachusetts College of Art and Design will visit the AP 2D class on Tuesday afternoon!

And did you know that members of the Durfee Band/Orchestra will be performing WITH THE NEW BEDFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AT THEIR CHRISTMAS CONCERT?  YUP!  SO PROUD!

On the Calendar:

• Release Time Day- 10/1
• No School- Columbus Day- 10/8
• Durfee Faculty Meeting- 10/9
• Durfee Department Meeting- 10/17
• Durfee's GOT TALENT- 10/19
• FRPS Fine and Perf Arts Department Meetings- 10/25

And the Learning Walks!

• K-5 Art and Music Learning Walk- 10/3
• 6-12 Art and Music Learning Walk- 10/10
• These will give us a whole district view of the level of tasks we are planning for our kids- I will share the report in the week's end blog/email!

The Week in Pics:

 Community Foundation awarding grant to NBAM- Organization who will be doing the Creative Courts Mural at TALBOT!

 CREATIVE COURTS- Talbot will be getting an awesome mural painted on the ground of their basketball court, funded by this grant!

 A group of visiting artists from the Azores met with us this week to plan a 2019 HUGE ARTS FESTIVAL IN FALL RIVER!

 Walk and Talk and Tremor, two Azorean/Portuguese arts and culture organizations presented their work and its' impact on the community.. 

Durfee Sculpture Student Work

Durfee Full Orchestra Practice

Durfee Chorus practicing for Winter Concert!

...And Just in from Berklee:

Please save the date and join us for the 2018 Berklee Music Education Symposium, where Dr. Peter Webster, Barbara Freeman, and Otto Gross will lead us through a though-provoking exploration of the creative musical world of today’s students, and provide insight on methods and processes that will bring together the conceptual and technical learning of music with the creative experience and expression of music.  

All participants will come away with the 2018 Berklee Music Education Symposium Resource Guide, containing suggested resources and lesson strategies that can readily be adapted for different music teaching environments.

Have a wonderful week, and see you ALL Monday!  Yay!

-Jackie