King Arts ** News from Arts & PE
March 2022. Highlighting our Arts Integrated Learning.
Connecting to the world and others through the arts
Click on the logo to learn about our mission and vision at King Arts
March 8th Band and Orchestra performance with District 65 students at ETHS
On March 8th the 8th grade Band and Orchestra students performed a world premiere of a piece called, “A Letter to the Mother”. This piece was founded by Foundation 65, commissioned and written for the 8th grade band and orchestra students in District 65 by Stefan L. Smith who was inspired by the “Say Their Name” movement of social justice, particularly inspired by the Elijah Mclain story. The composer, Stefan L. Smith, was brought up through Mr. Carrillo, who was an undergraduate friend & peer at DePaul University; where Mr. Carrillo played on previous commissions and works by the composer. The composer, Mr. Smith, has currently made his mark in the LA scene being a violist in the Hollywood bowl Orchestra, a studio musician, a composer for film/TV, video games, R&B, and pop music. He has also been seen on the screen with projects such as Modern Family, West Wing, The Voice, Glee, American Music Awards, the BET awards, and most recently playing principal viola for the 2022 Oscars.
District 65 Social Justice through Instrumental Music
"A Letter to the Mothers"
composed by Stefan L. Smith
Video with photos and the performance of the composition,”A Letter to the Mothers”
Meeting composer, Stefan L. Smith
The 8th grade students were fortunate to get to talk to Mr. Smith during a Zoom call where he was able to answer questions students had concerning the composition. Before the students met with Mr. Smith, the students had engaged in 2 small projects. The first was for students to describe what social justice meant to them. Then followed by a listening project where they heard other compositions that focused on social justice themes; John Corgliano’s 1st Symphony, on the Aids epidemic; another by Catherine Likhuta on the invasion and war of Ukraine by Russia called “Bad Neighbours”, Xavier Foley ‘s “For Justice and Peace” created to mark the 400 years of slavery since the arrival of the slave ship "White Lion" in Jamestown, Virginia, and Stacy Garrop’s piece “the Battle for the Ballot” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment to the US Constitution, that recognized a woman’s right to vote.
Our Band students who participated in the Social Justice through Instrumental Music Project
Pictured are King Arts eighth graders Nina Doherty, Ruby Dold, Neena Gaede, and Yousuf Ansari.
On Saturday, February 28th, sixteen King Arts Band students did live performances before a judge at the Illinois Grade School Music Association Solo and Ensemble Contest, held in Northlake. The students had been working on solos, duets, and trios since Winter Break, and all received First Division ratings, the top honor that can be earned. Thanks to all the students that went above and beyond to participate this year!
5th grade
Flute Trio - Temi Babalola, Duma Leng, Renmar Teodoro
Clarinet/Saxophone Duet - Elodie Goldfarb, Zoey Slater
Clarinet/Saxophone Duet - Isaac Rochon, Xia Roberts
6th - 8th Grade
Alto Solo - Dara Babalola
Piano Solo - Logan Eaton-Strong
Sax Trio - Dara Bablola, Logan Eaton-Strong, Kieran Saszik
Flute Duet - Simone Rochon, Vanessa Montoya
Flute Duet - Ruby Dold, Justin Henry
Trumpet Duet - Tiffany Arthurs, Reana Teodoro
Do you have a public library card? It's Free.
Library News
Students in grades K-4 recently read the picture book, You Hold Me Up by Monique Gray Smith. This beautiful picture book explores the importance of connections we make with our family, friends, and teachers. Students were asked to identify and write about actions that others can make to “hold them up” in our school community. These heartwarming affirmations are now on display outside of our library for all to enjoy.
Everyone Belongs @ Your School Library
Dance with Ms. Sheehan
Cross-curricular Arts Integration
Click on the picture to see a video of the dancers in action.
5th grade had started working with fractions in Math class. In dance class we are studying choreographic tools used in creating dances. We took those learning standards and working from a set movement vocabulary, the student artists worked in small groups to choreograph Fraction Dances. Finding a strong beginning and ending and depending on the number of dancers in the group, the students dances demonstrated Math vocabulary of: Whole, ½, ⅓, ¼, ⅕, ⅙. These 2 recorded short dance studies use the Samba Dance vocabulary.
These dance studies have been shared with classmates so are meant to be viewed live! Please excuse the quality of the recording.
Music News
Please welcome Mr. Joseph Moorehouse who will be student teaching with Mr. Smith through May. Mr. Moorehouse is a senior in music education at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. He will be bringing his vocal and instrumental skills to our music classes as he develops his teaching skills.
Drama with Ms. Szczepaniak
Drama with Ms. Querciagrossa
Students retell the story of The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munch
Set Design Model with Dragon puppet
Physical Education K-5 in their cup stacking unit
Improving Collaboration, Hand Eye Coordination, and Fine Motor Skills.