Happy Arts in Schools Month! We have so much to celebrate regarding arts education in our schools - exceptional music courses, ensembles and educators, exemplary visual and media arts classes and teachers, a growing dance program with a dynamic new teacher, as well as excellent co-curricular groups and activities that run all year. We are so fortunate at West Genesee to have such a supportive community, Board of Education and Superintendent that enable the arts to flourish here. I couldn't be more proud to serve such a dynamic department of teachers and students.
February, though short, kept us busy! From the WGHS Musical to the start of the Winter Guard competitive season, to our high school artists experiencing the Scholastic Art exhibit to the Drumline getting their season off the ground, our Fine Arts students have been busy! And March continues the busyness. Lots of concerts, our Maxwell Memorial Library art exhibits start up and more!
Keep track of our events and join us throughout the year - you'll be continually astonished by our amazing wildcats!
~Sarah Gentile
"Dance A Difference" Week is a week of dance-based community service spread throughout the nation. The National Dance Educators Organization (NDEO) and the National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NHSDA) recognizes the power of dance to make and impact for both individuals and communities. In 2017, "Dance A Difference" Week was instituted to dedicate time to dance based service in communities. Dance A Difference Week is held during the first full week in March, and is coming up this year from March 3-9, 2024.
This year, WG NHSDA has been collecting items for a local cancer support group called 13Thirty Cancer Connect. 13Thirty Cancer Connect is a non-profit organization that began in 2001 after Melissa Sengbusch passed away at the age of 19 from Acute Myeloid Leukemia. The mission, vision, and values of 13Thirty is to help adolescents and young adults living with cancer, with their coping skills and self-esteem by building satisfying peer connections. Thank you dancers!!
Exhibit schedule:
- WGIS --> 3/5 - 3/14
- Split Rock & Onondaga Road --> 3/19 - 3/28
- East Hill --> 4/2 - 4/11
- Stonehedge --> 4/16 - 4/27
- CMS --> 4/30 - 5/9
- WGHS --> 5/14 - 5/24
Check with Maxwell Memorial Library for hours of operation.
Congratulations to the 24 student musicians that were recently selected to represent West Genesee at the Onondaga County Elementary All County Festival in May 2024. The Elementary Festival includes recommendation based band, orchestra, and chorus of fifth and sixth grade students from across the county. Once accepted, students spend the next three months preparing, with their teachers, the concert music. During the festival weekend, the students finally come together for concentrated rehearsal time with the guest conductors and the festival ends with the concert performance.
Click here to see a list of students and read the full article on the West Genesee website.
WGHS students gave an amazing and magical performance of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella in mid-February. This newest version, the "broadway version" is an adaptation (book by Douglas Beane) of the classic musical and featured "new characters, a hilarious libretto, surprising twists and the unforgettable score" we continue to love.
The production featured over 70 WGHS students in the cast, crew, and pit orchestra! The first performance was a preview for 4th graders as well as the casts of the WGIS and CMS musicals who were excited and supportive. One student even said, "Can you please call my mom and let her know about this so she can bring me back to see the whole thing?" as the students were heading back to school! Audiences of all four of the performances left with smiles on their faces and magic in their hearts.
Thank you to everyone that attended and supported this show!
The West Genesee Drumline recently had a preview performance for this season's show on Wednesday, February, 28th in the WGHS Gym. The Drumline students are already doing an amazing job bringing the show to life! About the show: The deep dark sea can be very mysterious, but also very intriguing. Aquatic explores many different moods from the underwater world and uses some familiar music composed by Sting to help set the tone. West Genesee is proud to present their 2024 winter show, “Aquatic.”
Their first competition ever will be Saturday, March 9th at Central Square - come give them lots of support!!
This began as New York Music in our Schools Day in 1973 as an "observance designed to bring about a more genuine recognition in NYS of the vital place of music in the education process." This recognition was sponsored by the NYS State Education Department (NYSED) and the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA). It quickly grew to National Music in our Schools Day in 1975 and into a month long celebration in 1985, sponsored by the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). Around the same time (beginning in 1961), Crayola and the National Art Education Association (NAEA) were sponsoring Children's Art Month to "emphasize the value of participating in art for all children." This event later became Youth Art Month. As these celebrations grew in notoriety and in size of events, other arts professional organizations began sponsoring March as months of celebration as well we gained Theatre in our Schools Month, sponsored by the Educational Theatre Association (ETA) and the American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE) and Dance in our Schools Month, sponsored by the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO).
Professional Organizations, School Districts, and Arts Educators celebrate this month in a variety of different ways but one thing is the same-we all agree that arts education is an essential part of education for all students! How will you celebrate?
