Grant Highlights 2009-2010
January e-newsletter: Thank you to everyone who applied for the Art in Education grants for the fall 2009 cycle. We appreciate all the time and thoughtful consideration from the applicants. This year we are pleased to announce the following organizations as recipients:
Keister Elementary School, Lacey Spring Elementary School, Redeemer Classical School, Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir, Shenandoah Valley Preparatory Music, Skyline Middle School, Harrisonburg High School, and the Career Development Academy’s Children’s Program.
Since 2002, the Arts Council of the Valley has awarded more than $280,000 in grants to support cultural initiatives in the Harrisonburg/Rockingham area.
February e-newsletter: Each month during our current grant cycle, we will highlight one of the creative grants that is helping to build a stronger community. This month we are featuring the Shenandoah Valley Children’s Choir (SVCC). The SVCC has been providing high quality choral music for many years. The group performs classical, folk, and world music that is sure to interest those students singing and the audience listening. This spring members of the SVCC are planning to perform three concerts, 40 minutes in length, to approximately 2,500 children both from Rockingham County and Harrisonburg City.
Thanks go to Judy Leaman, Julia White, Joy Anderson, Maurita Eberly, Dr. Carol Fenn, and Bill Sprinkle for their vision and devotion to these concerts. As Ms. Leaman explained, “The goal of the project is to expose children in the Valley to the possibilities of excellence in music that can be achieved with singing and performing children.” The Arts Council of the Valley is proud to be part of this impressive venture!
March e-newsletter: Begun in 2004, My Class Cares has coordinated the creation and delivery of more than 5,000 portraits to orphans around the world each year. This spring Harrisonburg High School (HHS) art students under the tutelage of Jauan Brooks and Kelley Shradley-Horst have the great opportunity to participate in My Class Cares’ The Memory Project. Thirty students have been assigned to create portraits based on photographs for orphans in Lima, Peru. According to the varying art curricula, the students will paint, draw, or digitally create individual portraits. The finished images will first be displayed at a public venue in March, which is Youth Art Month.
Following the exhibition, all the portraits will be sent to individuals at the assigned orphanage. Jauan Brooks explains, “Though the orphans are from Lima, Peru, the HHS students will undoubtedly build a connection with them after working with the images to create a likeness that will put a smile on the faces of all who are involved with the project.” The Arts Council of the Valley is honored to support a project that not only benefits the young artists in the community but also those children in our greater world community.
April e-newsletter: Redeemer Classical School (RCS), an independent Christian school that uses a classical education curriculum, celebrates the arts as an integral part of a child’s learning and development. Their lessons include a rich exposure to music, drama, and the visual arts while helping students to develop wisdom, eloquence, the humility of Christian character, and persuasive communication. One music program strongly supported by RCS is the middle school handbell classes.
Not only is learning to read music and play handbells a worthwhile experience for the students, but also for the community. The students share their musical accomplishments by playing at church services, nursing homes, and school programs. The skills learned in the music program lead to a life-long enjoyment and appreciation of music.
As part of the handbell classes, the students play chimes. With the 2009-10 Arts in Education grant, RCS purchased a 3rd Octave Add-on Chime Set that will be used for years to come. Director Kathleen Wissinger explains, “Often chimes are used in a handbell piece for a melodic line or a special section…Handchimes also require less finesse and strength to play, so the younger students at RCS use chimes in their own music classes as well.” This year the students will use the upper range at the annual handbell festival at Massanetta Springs and use the full range in their school concert on May 18. Ms. Wissinger plans to compose a piece specifically for the 3rd octaves to be played at the concert. Both performances are free and open to the public. For more information on RCS, visit http://www.RedeemerClassical.org.
May e-newsletter: For 14 years at Skyline Middle School, Deborah Mongold has been teaching students how to play music while nurturing their growth as artists. Recently, Ms. Mongold has focused on developing a handbell choir for the school’s eighth graders, The Concert Ringers. Students are selected not only based on musical ability, but also on their desire and drive to perform as a member of the ensemble.
This spring the Arts Council of the Valley awarded Ms. Mongold and her class funds to participate in the second annual Redeemer Classical School Handbell Festival at Massanetta Springs, Rockingham County. For months the students learned and prepared five new pieces for the festival. On the day of the festival, they performed four pieces with the other participants (from Thomas Harrison Middle School and Redeemer Classical School) and one piece by themselves. The festival provided a chance for the students to play with other handbell musicians and also to perfect their pieces under the direction of their guest clinician and conductor Nick Hanson.
The Concert Ringers will be performing in two additional concerts, one open to the public at Skyline Middle School and one for individuals at Generations Crossings. Also, the musicians will be planning a workshop for sixth and seventh grade students to educate them on the benefits and joys of playing handbells.
June e-newsletter: On April 30, 2010, all the 4th grade students at Keister Elementary School disappeared. In their place stood famous men and women in American and world history. The backdrops were painted, the books were read, the costumes were made, and the students were ready!
The Wax Museum is an annual project at Keister in which 4th grade students transform into an important figure of the past…even if only for the afternoon. In preparation of the project, each student chooses a historical figure to play. After completing the research, the students write a speech, paint a backdrop related to their characters, and create history-inspired costumes. Once the work is completed, they give their speeches publically in a grade-wide Wax Museum.
Because of the practice necessary for successful public speaking, the 4th grade teachers requested a grant for three video cameras to aid in the preparation of the Wax Museum. With the awarded cameras, students were able to videotape themselves giving their speeches and critique themselves before the upcoming performance. This tool proved especially helpful for the diverse population of students who speak English as their second language. Eighty students had access to new technology that not only energized their performance but also bolstered their confidence.