Posts filed under ‘Arts & Literature’
Rialto Center for the Arts and Perkerson Elementary arts partnership
The Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State has served this past year as Perkerson Elementary‘s official arts partner. The Rialto Center has brought professional jazz musicians to Perkerson to teach the children about America’s indigenous art form, a hip-hop dance company from New York, and regularly sends Georgia State University students for engagement with the students. One of the highlights of this past year was the presentation of Perkerson’s holiday musical on the Rialto lobby stage as part of the First Thursday Downtown ArtWalk in December.
Thomasville Heights Elementary School celebrates Saint Patrick’s Day!
Saint Patrick’s Day was full of green and learning! Our second grade team started the day with an exciting lesson on fractions using a delicious green cake and cupcakes. By the end of the lesson, students were able to state with confidence what a fraction is, “…equal parts of a whole.” Our Kindergarten team ended the day with a special “Green Eggs and Ham” event. This event challenged students to listen for and identify rhyming words as they watched a movie on the famous book, Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss. After a brief discussion about the movie and rhyming words, students then played learning games and even had the opportunity to eat green eggs! Two snaps for Thomasville Heights Elementary…. We got it going on!
written by Intiasar Ziyad, Media Specialist at Thomasville Elementary
“The Boycott” performed at South Atlanta High School
The South Atlanta High School hosted a performance of the play “The Boycott” on February 28, 2013. The cast numbered over thirty actors, actresses, singers and dancers and the play highlighted events surrounding the bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement.
“The Boycott” intermixed personal and group dynamics along with music, dance and monologues to illustrate the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. The campaign lasted from December 1, 1955 to December 20, 1956, when a federal ruling took effect and led to a United States Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional.
“The Boycott” is an intergenerational play featuring the students of South Atlanta High School, the Harriet Daniel Senior Center Dancing Divas and other members of the community. South Atlanta Drama Instructor Tia Cowart and South Atlanta High extend a special thanks to Ms. Gwen Hubbard and Ms. Joyce Lewis for bringing this project to South Atlanta High School!
The Capture Project at Perkerson Elementary
The Capture Project is a technology – based education program with a focus on language arts enrichment and social responsibility via the documentary arts. The visual media outreach program developed within The Creatives Project umbrella will also stimulate youth empowerment and community enrichment. The program will be customized to provide Perkerson Elementary School students with tools they’ll need to produce short films highlighting opportunities for growth in their neighborhoods. TCP will work to form partnerships with local neighborhood associations, community development organizations, and area schools to build support and ensure accessibility for residents. The Capture Project’s goal is to use technological integration as a medium to promote social responsibility, professionalism, and team building.
Use of the arts in the classroom, especially programs that are long term and included repeated exposure with the artist on a multi step project achieve the following goals:
• Open the classroom to more communication opportunities.
• Encourage more teacher-student and student-student discussion.
• Share the authority as more resources are brought into the classroom.
• Create opportunities for tasks that are complex and authentic and connected to projects which may be multidisciplinary and long term.
• Give students more opportunities for multiple ways of discovering, creating, and communicating information in various formats and voices.
TCP is currently working with Perkerson Elementary on an art mural in the school. They have created arts education programming around the development of a mural for the youth and staff of the school. Resident artists MAO and Brandon Sadler have worked closely with students to conceptualize and install a large scale mural in the Perkerson entry area to help create a colorful, inspiring, and inviting atmosphere for students, teachers, faculty, staff and visitors.
VANS Sponsors a Street Art Mural at Grady High School
Grady was 1 out of 10 high schools in America to receive a $2,000 Custom Culture Grant by VANS to create a street art inspired mural on campus. This street art will be a student-driven project led by John Brandhorst, Department Chair of Fine & Performing Arts at Grady.
Brandhorst will collaborate with local professional artists for their expertise, techniques and consultation. Several of the professional artists include:
- Jessica Caldas, Grady High School Alumni/Artist
- Beth Malone, Director at High Museum/Director of Public Arts for Office of Cultural Affairs
- Jeff Mather, Director of APAL
- Jay Wiggins, Artist
The street art will be politically relevant, colorful, exciting, edgy, and appropriate for a high school campus. The theme, color scheme, and location of the mural are not yet determined.
“We are thrilled to work directly with the VANS Corporation and Americans for the Arts,” says John Brandhorst. “This is an opportunity for us to exist with our visual art program here at Grady at the highest possible levels.“
“Scrooge Around the World” performed at Perkerson Elementary
“Scrooge Around the World” was performed at Perkerson Elementary School and is a contemporary version of the classic Scrooge play. In this version, contemporary musical artists who represent the Ghosts of Holiday Past, Present and Future visit Scrooge and warn her to change her selfish ways. Each ghost takes Scrooge to different places around the world to see how people help each other and show kindness throughout the world. Scrooge also experiences how each country celebrates winter holidays.
The Ghost of Holiday Past continues to try to change Scrooge’s mind with a visit to America, Mexico, and China. The Ghost of Holiday Present, Beyoncé, takes him to Africa. Ghost of Holiday Future, The Grim Reaper, takes Scrooge to the cemetery where she will eventually end up all alone if she does not change. As the story progresses, Scrooge wakes up a changed woman determined to help and do good deeds.
The Perkerson Elementary performance of “Scrooge Around the World” is full of wonderful music from Michael Jackson, The Temptations, and Mariah Carey, along with other musical artists.
The play was performed at the Rialto Center on December 6th along with three performances at Perkerson Elementary School on December 18th.
written by Karen Ross, Teacher, Perkerson Elementary
South Atlanta Educational Complex kicks off National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
The South Atlanta Educational Complex kicked off National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) with a series of author visits. On October 24th, Stephanie Perry Moore and Derrick Moore, authors of the popular Lockwood Lions series visited the school and spoke with students in the school of Computer Animation and Design (CAD) about the importance of reading and their personal journeys as writers.
On November 1st, the first official day of NaNoWriMo, Vicky Alvear Shecter, author of the YA historical novel, Cleopatra’s Moon and S.R. Johannes, author of the YA thriller Untraceable met with Language Arts students from all three academies, CAD, the school of Health and Medical Sciences (HMS) and the school of Law and Social Justice (LSJ). The authors led students in a creative writing exercise and spoke about the importance of good research and dedication to the writing craft.
Students were readily engaged and expressed interest in accepting the challenge of NaNoWriMo and committing themselves to writing a novel of up to 50,000 words in the month of November. Each author offered their advice and email addresses to students for further questions and feedback.
Critique groups will meet in the media center each Wednesday after school to share their stories and receive encouragement and feedback.
You can find information about NaNoWriMo at www.nanwrimo.org.
written by Shanna Miles, Media Specialist, South Atlanta Educational Complex
DreamWorks director Peter Ramsey visits South Atlanta High School of Computer Animation and Design
Animation director Peter Ramsey recently spoke to the students at the South Atlanta High School of Computer Animation and Design. Mr. Ramsey is currently directing DreamWorks Animation’s Rise of the Guardians. Rise of the Guardians is an epic adventure that tells the story of a group of heroes – each with extraordinary abilities. The feature film is based on William Joyce’s The Guardians of Childhood series of children’s books and is set to be released on November 21, 2012.
Mr. Ramsey viewed a demo reel of various animated works done by the students of the South Atlanta High School of Computer Animation and Design. He spoke words of praise and encouragement to the students and reflected that his early animated projects were very similar to theirs. Various clips from Rise of the Guardians were shown and he went into background as to how each scene was constructed then animated. Mr. Ramsey stressed that the students continue to draw, get involved in as many animated projects as they could, learn and work with animation software, read and watch films of all genres to learn about story telling, storyboarding and character development. “Way before I even thought about directing, I was making my own small films. Back in the day, it was done on Super 8, 16 mm. As I was storyboarding, I was also reading a lot about film history and film technique.” His career path lead him to directing, which is a job that takes elements from his previous work experiences and has a great deal of responsibility. ”The biggest job of the director is to keep the whole team focused on the story and the direction that the story takes,” said Mr. Ramsey.
Prior to his involvement with Rise of the Guardians, Mr. Ramsey directed the hit Halloween special, Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space. In addition to directing Monsters vs. Aliens: Mutant Pumpkins from Outer Space, Ramsey served as head of story on DreamWorks Animation’s Monsters vs. Aliens and has worked as a storyboard artist on a number of live action feature films, which include Minority Report, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Cast Away, Fight Club, Men in Black, Independence Day and Batman Forever, amongst others.
Having grown-up in Crenshaw, Mr. Ramsey is a lifelong resident of Los Angeles, California. He is a graduate of Palisades High School and attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The South Atlanta High School of Computer Animation and Design thanks Mr. Ramsey for his visit, his words of encouragement and professional insight.
APS and the CEP providing cultural, artistic experiences and learning to Atlanta Public School students
The City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs created the Cultural Experience Project to give every Atlanta Public School student, from Pre-Kindergarten through the 12th Grade, the opportunity to experience the city’s premier arts and cultural venues. The vision is for every student in Atlanta Public Schools to have at least one on site experience at an arts and cultural venue each year. The goal is for the students to have an education enhancing encounter that directly ties to the Georgia Learning Performance Standards and curriculum goals.
The CEP provides field trips to APS students that are entirely funded by private donations from Turner Broadcasting, The Zeist Foundation, Loridans Foundation, Keneda Fund, The National Endowment for the Arts Shakespeare in American Communities program and other local businesses and partners. CEP was started under the administration of Mayor Shirley Franklin and has continued under Mayor Kasim Reed. Events are offered free of charge to all APS students and are administered by the APS Fine Arts Department.
“The Cultural Experience Project model ensures that all APS students can access Atlanta’s cultural assets regardless of family finances, where they live, or what school they attend,: said City of Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs Director Camille Russell Love. “We want every child to have opportunities at no cost to them. Even transportation is funded through a generous grant from Turner Broadcasting.”
“The Cultural Experience Project provides powerful educational experiences for all Atlanta Public School students and provides real-world connections for classroom learning while opening students’ hearts and minds to new intellectual and aesthetic horizons. Many students would never otherwise experience the rich cultural life of the city, and because of this program, new generations of citizens will grow up knowing how to take full advantage of the cultural, civic and artistic wealth here in Atlanta, ” said Raymond Veon, Interim Director, Fine and Performing Arts Department, Teaching and Learning for Atlanta Public Schools.
In its first seven years, the Cultural Experience Project has provided over 233,000 cultural experiences that have enhanced classroom learning to the district’s elementary, middle and high school students. The City of Atlanta envisions the opportunity for 100% of its students to experience the wealth of Atlanta’s cultural venues as a part of a “best in class” education through the Atlanta Public Schools.
