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Celebrate theArts

Gwinnett County Public Schools May 2013

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Roll your cursor over the page to see links in the text.

Message from the CEO/Superintendent

The arts benefit students in the classroomAt a time when shrinking budgets have squeezed out electives in some school dis-

tricts, we feel both fortunate and resolute in ensuring that the Fine Arts remain an im-portant part of a quality and effective education for Gwinnett County schoolchildren. Research tells us that participation in the fine arts— visual arts, choral and instrumen-tal music, theater, and dance— benefits our students in many ways. The arts improve and enhance learning, and encourage creativity and new ideas. Students engaged in the arts have higher attendance rates. Studies show that participation in the arts boosts student engagement and academic achievement across disciplines. Students who take part in the arts perform better on state standardized tests and have higher SAT scores. They tend to pursue higher education and, as a result, have

higher income levels than non-arts students. Student artists, musicians, and performers develop persistence, working on projects over sustained periods of time. Through the arts, students make clear connections between schoolwork and the world outside the classroom, and the arts help students see new patterns and envision solutions in their work. To be sure, these benefits are felt across the school district as nine out of every 10 students in Gwinnett

participated in the arts this year. If you have attended a student performance or visited an art exhibit, you know our young people are very talented. If you have not had the opportunity to witness the arts in action in our schools, let this issue of Communiqué be your preview and make plans to attend a concert, play, dance recital, musical, or exhibit in 2013–14!

J. Alvin Wilbanks, CEO/Superintendent

Table of Contents

Art in Gwinnett 1

Celebrate Visual Arts 2

Spotlight on Performing Arts 6

Focus Moments 9

Seniors Celebrate! back cover

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There’s more!When you see “colorful” text or these icons in an article, click to hear more, see more, and learn more.

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Click to learn more online.

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On the cover…Mountain View High presents Phantom of the Opera. This is the first time this very challenging production has graced a GCPS stage.

Communiqué is produced by Gwinnett County Public Schools’ Department of Communications and Media Relations. Thanks to the staff, students, and administrators who helped us tell their stories in this issue. Special thanks to Lisa Hopper for many of the photographs.

Stay Connected to GCPS• Watch GCPS TV on your local cable

station or stream shows online at www.gwinnett.k12.ga.us/gcpstv/

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Click for a slideshow of Mountain View High’s “Phantom of the Opera”— from “makeup” to curtain calls at the end of the evening.

Fine Arts Total Enrollment for

the 2012–13 school year:

147,018 students

Students garner awards along with a lifelong love of the fine arts

The list of awards for Gwinnett County Public Schools’ fine arts students and their teachers is long and impressive— from national medals in visual arts to award-winning performances at Lincoln Cen-ter and Carnegie Hall in New York City, kudos for staff members, and a whole host of regional and state honors in theater, art and design, dance, chorus, band, orchestra, and music technology. In fact, Gwin-nett has been honored numerous times as one of the country’s Best Communities for Music Education. And while the district is rightly proud of the kudos earned, the bigger reward is what happens after students leave our schools.

“At the end of the day, our goal is to enrich students’ lives through their arts experiences,” says Robert Andrews, director of GCPS’ Fine Arts program. “Many of our talented students will go on to have careers in the arts, but, more importantly, we hope that all of our stu-dents leave our classrooms as lifelong learners who enjoy creating or performing for their own enjoyment and continue into adulthood as patrons of the arts who value what the arts bring to our personal lives and to our communities.”

This year more than 88% of GCPS students are involved in the arts, with both music and art offered to all elementary students and a range of visual and performing arts electives offered to middle and high school students. While most students will not pursue a career in the arts, for those who do, the future looks bright. Jobs and employment in many creative industries are growing faster than the labor force as a whole and make up 30% of the work force by some estimates.

ART with PurposeAround the district, Gwinnett students put their creative talents to good use for their schools and the wider community, creating art and performing… to entertain, beautify, and increase awareness, even to raise funds to support worthy causes.

An example of this artistic philanthropy is evident in the work of visual art students at North Gwinnett High. The school’s 6th annual Relay For Life (RFL) Art Auction in March raised more than $6,000 for cancer-fighting efforts. (The school raised in excess of $115,000 overall.) More than 400 pieces of student art were exhibited, drawing bids from families and community members.

“ART with Purpose is where my heart lies,” says Debi West, a visual arts teacher at the school. Over the years, her students have created “Haiti Houses” jewelry and magnets, designed Pinwheels for Peace for World Peace Day, made clay pots for “Empty Bowls Dinners” to raise awareness of hunger, and auctioned mini paintings to benefit Croy’s Cause. Face-painting donations at events have funded charities. Monthly art lessons for adults with special needs have left their mark on both students and adults. Through the International Memory Project, students “adopted” children from other countries and honored their identity through the art of portraiture. (See photo above.)

“It’s about teaching our students that through service learning visual arts activities, they have the ability to help change the world,” says Ms. West.

Click to see art from

the RFL auction.

The Collins Hill Jazz Ensemble performs in a community concert, putting the spotlight on Relay For Life.

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Celebrate Visual ArtsRIGHT: A 10th grader from

Parkview High earned Best of Show in the Atlanta High School

Art Exhibition at the Dogwood Festival with her intricate pen-

and-ink work (detail below).BELOW (Top): A Lanier High student won a silver medal at the All-State Art Symposium with her work.

BELOW (Bottom): A Hull Middle 8th grader won two gold medals in the National Scholastic Art Awards, including one for this painting.

A Brookwood High student earned recognition at the All-State Art Symposium with this piece.

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Celebrate Visual Arts Many of the images on these pages were part of the school district’s annual Tapestry event, a three-week celebration of the visual arts, with artwork from every level and every cluster in a wide range of mediums. The exhibits drew more than 3,000 visitors for the 2013 show.

Click to experience GCPS’ Tapestry art event.

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Students in the district’s Visual Arts program work in a range of mediums, including oil pastels, acrylics, photography, watercolors, drawing pencils, pen and ink, mixed media, fibers, metalwork, ceramics, paper folding, and computer animation and graphic design.

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All elementary students participate in visual arts classes, while many middle and high school students select art classes as electives.

Click for a slideshow of just a few of the terrific images from Tapestry.

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Spotlight on the Performing ArtsThis page: The Peachtree Ridge High Jazz Band performs “Back Home Again in Indiana” during a community concert in Suwanee Town Center Park. The Nor-cross Elementary Chorus shares a song during a program celebrating the music of China, India, and Korea. Berkmar students dance a colorful number.

Facing page: McConnell Middle students tell “scary” tales with “Story Theater.” The Duluth High Chamber Orchestra tunes up to perform at Lincoln Center in New York. Brookwood High students step out in “Pippin,” the last production of the Lindahls, retiring husband-and-wife theater teachers.

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Click for a slideshow of Mountain View High’s “Phantom of the Opera”—

from “makeup” to curtain calls at the end of the evening.

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“I wonder, wonder, wonder who!, who wrote the book of love”… Mem-bers of Dacula High’s Mens Chorus, wearing their trademark gold vests, perform the 1950s doo-wop classic, “Book of Love.” The Davis Boykin Experience, made up of Archer High student musicians, plays bluegrass covers of jazz standards at the school’s 1st annual Jazz Fest. A scurry of squirrels prepares to sort the bad nuts from the good in Nesbit Elemen-tary’s production of “Willy Wonka Kids.” Costumes bring “Beauty and the Beast” to life on stage in a Couch Middle production.

Click for a slideshow of just a handful of the

terrific performances in Gwinnett during the

2012–13 school year.

Produced by the award-winning GCPS TV team, “Focus Moments” are bite-sized videos that cover a range of school-based stories, good news, and quick-takes on events around the district. And “artSTAGE” is an hour-long show dedicated to the arts. Click the icons on these pages to enjoy these programs and check out more performances in our online OnDemand Library.

“Sounds of the Season” captures student performances during the 2012 holiday season, including a turn by the grouchy Grinch

from the classic holiday tale, presented here by Parkview High dancers.

Whether marching in parades in Europe, per-forming in stateside competitions, or taking the field under the Friday Night Lights, the Mill Creek Marching Band tries to meet the high expectations of the band’s director.

In a special artSTAGE program, experience a rock concert with electrified orchestral instruments

played by Pinckneyville Middle students.

“Electrify Your Strings” is an

educational program of

Mark Wood, a founding member of Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

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Meet an award-win-ning visual arts teach-er from Trickum Middle who is very excited about the arts!

Check out more video and audio highlights from student performances, including links to work by Music Technology students!

437 Old Peachtree Rd., NW • Suwanee, GA 30024-2978 • (678) 301-6000

It is the policy of Gwinnett County Public Schools not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, or disability in any employment practice, educational program, or any other program, activity, or service.

Seniors Celebrate!

This month, more than 10,500 Gwinnett students will close a chapter on their high school years, and blaze a trail into their future. The whole community — their teachers, administrators, classmates, families, and neighbors— wishes them well as they launch themselves into college and careers, ready for whatev-er lies ahead. Look for a special issue of Communiqué in the last week of school as we celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2013!

In these photos, students from Peachtree Ridge High, Mill Creek High, Central Gwinnett High, and North Gwinnett High enjoy senior celebrations in the last days of their high school careers.