This semester, teachers in the School of Arts and Humanities continually demonstrate the power and value of using the arts to supplement instruction into other academic areas. Arts inte-gration has given many students a chance to demonstrate their artis-tic talents while also turning ab-stract concepts into concrete real-ity. The arts are languages that most people speak, cutting through individual differences in culture, educational background, and ability (www.newhorizons. org). They can aide in bringing every subject to life, as evidenced in the following lessons.

In French II, Mrs. Stacy Attafi teaches students the French past tense (specifically a list of verbs that use ETRE as their helping verb) by asking them to create a simple children's story. They work in small steps, coming up with characters and a story that usually deal with themes such as travel, change, life cycle, etc. Students then place the text into story form and illustrate the text. The stories are presented in class and saved for future classes, as a means to introduce the con-cept and reinforce the meaning and forms of the verbs. In Geometry, Mr. Mark Woodhall has students create works of art that represent two math concepts: constructions (Math standard G2.5: create ge-ometry constructions) and bisect-ing angles. Students’ work is then exhibited in the classroom and judged by their peers from each math class. Categories for judging include best geometry, best use of color, and most origi-nal. In English, Mrs. Jeannie Fox has students imagine that they are “curators” at the Smithsonian Museum. As curators, they have been given the responsibility of putting together an exhibition

titled The Great Gatsby. In teams, students design and create model exhibits that portray an assigned chapter from the novel. The exhibit must have a title, character profile, significant quote, pictures of two significant symbols, historical connection to an event in the chapter, a song from the 1920’s that fits the mood of the chapter, and a piece of artwork from the 1920s. Through this assignment, stu-dents are able to see a visual de-piction of the literature as a means to reinforce the informa-tion.

Teachers Demonstrate the Power of Arts Integration in the Classroom UPCOMING EVENTS:

• HONK, School Musical Feb. 17th – 19th @ 7:00 & Feb. 20th @ 5:00 in the PAC*

• Student Choreography Show-case March 24th @ 7:00 in the PAC*

• Coffee House/Open Mic Show Sponsored by the Theatre Dept. March 25th @ 7:00 in the PAC*

• Girl’s Night Out April 7th - 9th @ 7:00, Location TBA

• Chamber Music Concert April 8th @ 6:00 in the PAC*

• Percussion and Jazz Concert April 29th @ 7:00 in the PAC*

• Visual Arts Showcase April 2011, Location TBA

* Wando Performing Arts Center (PAC)

VOLUME 4, ISSUE 2

JANUARY 20, 2011 School of Arts and Humanities WANDO HIGH SCHOOL

Theatre Students Make it “Real” Big

Arts Integration 1

Theatre Highlight 1

Yearbook and Art Collaboration 2

Get to Know a Wando student 2

Teacher of the Quarter 2

INS IDE THIS ISSUE:

Wando Theatre placed 2nd at the South Carolina Theatre Association state competition in November, earning one of two coveted spots to represent South Carolina at the South-eastern Theatre Conference (SETC) competition in Atlanta in March. Wando was also awarded the "Outstanding Technical" award, and the en-tire cast of thirteen was named to the "All-Star Cast." Wando competed against

twenty-two other schools from around the state, performing an original piece entitled "the real teens." Art teacher Brittany McCrea, auditorium manager Joshua Hasty, and dance teacher Jessica Crum collabo-rated with director Lori Carroll on the production. The Secondary School competition in Atlanta is part of SETC, one of the largest conventions in the country for high school, college, com-

munity, and professional thea-tres. Congratulations to the teachers and students for an award-winning performance!

Excerpts from an original story written and illustrated by Dylan Kemp in his French class.

Construction by Johanna Becerra.

All-Star Cast of “the real teens.”

Exhibit by Josie Maszk and Jessi Vickers.

Get To Know Christian Brummé

Why did you choose to take coursework in the Arts and Humanities? I decided to take classes in the Arts and Humanities because it is an escape from the traditional type of school setting (desks and lectures). There is no right and wrong, and you are able to express emotions that are difficult to understand and discover things about yourself. The arts are the only place where you can be yourself without being judged. What are your plans for the future? Through Show Choir and the school musi-cal, I have discovered that I would like to continue a path in the arts. I have found a love for music and plan on studying as a vocal and music theory major. My biggest dream is to perform on Broadway or be signed by a recording company. But, I be-lieve great success comes from great work and I know I still have a lot to work on.

Students are Provided with a Real World Experience in the Arts

This year, Wando’s Yearbook staff decided that the 2010-2011 Year-book, Legend, should have a more artful approach. During their summer re-treat, the yearbook staff was inspired by the layout of the popular magazine Real Simple. The magazine uses artwork, such as paper sculptures by Matthew Sprozynski and photogra-phy to depict the section headers. The staff decided to design the yearbook after this concept. After b r a in s to r ming , the y approached the Two-Dimensional Design II class with their ideas and a collaboration between the yearbook class and art class was born. The art students were asked to illustrate different sections for the yearbook

including themes such as Fall, Sports, People, etc. To begin, art students re-searched ideas and created thumbnails, which are small idea drawings. They then met with their clients, Mrs. Fox and the Yearbook staff, to go over ideas and prepare for the final pieces

of art. Final illustrations were created using a vari-ety of tools and materials depending on the students’ ideas. Of the 20 pieces of art created, 9 were chosen to be the section headers for the 2010-11 yearbook. For the art students, this collaboration provided them with a chance to be involved in a real-world experience in the field of illustration. The students

learned about the process of creating a spot illustra-tion, which is an artwork that is used in magazines, books, and advertisements to visually sum up the idea in the text. For the year-book students, this collabo-ration allowed them to dis-cover what it is like to work with designers/artists in order to achieve their desired concept. Look for the final selections in the upcoming yearbook!

Teacher of the Quarter: Jeannie Fox

In the School of Arts and Humanities it has be-come a tradition for teach-ers to nominate a col-league within the school of study for teacher of the quarter. As a school of study, we feel it is impor-tant to recognize teachers for their outstanding work in the classroom. The current teacher of the quarter passes the Arts and Humanities globe to a

teacher of their choosing. This quarter, Miss Lisa Velick, English teacher at Wando, selected Mrs. Jeannie Fox as teacher of the quarter. Mrs. Fox teaches English and year-book classes at Wando. A typical day in her class-room is filled with the sound of active student engagement. Mrs. Fox consistently integrates the arts into her instruction to

help students understand concepts in English, turn-ing abstract concepts into concrete projects (see front story).

Kristen Erich, Layout Proposal for People

Ellori McPherson, Layout Proposal for September and October

Hannah McDermett, Layout Proposal for Sports

Courtney Tumbleston, Layout Proposal for Janu-ary and February

Christian performed the role of Nathan in Guys and Dolls in the annual school musical in 2010. Christian will also have a lead role in this year’s musical, HONK.

Christian performed in “the real teens,” a piece used for competition at the SCTA and SETC performances this school year.