November Newsletter
Happy December! Almost halfway through the school year and many of you have had amazing experiences at state one-act, marching band competitions, orchestra competitions, all-city groups, and successful auditions for all-state ensembles! Congratulations! As you move through this busy performance season, remember to take care of yourself. Thank you for providing amazing opportunities for Oklahoma students.
At the OSDE, we are moving ahead with standards review/revision process. The writing teams for all four disciplines will be reviewing public comments to determine possible revisions. Standards will move to the State Board of Education in February. Thank you for participating in public comment!
OAKE National Honor Choirs
We have 31 students from Oklahoma accepted into the National Organization of American Kodaly Educators (OAKE) Honor Choirs in 2020! These choirs are highly competitive and it's incredible that we have 31 students from Oklahoma participating! They will be attending the National OAKE Conference in Portland, OR in early March - students will rehearse for 3-4 days with nationally-recognized conductors and then perform concerts for conference attendees and their families. More information on the choirs is here: https://www.oake.org/choirs/
The schools that will be represented include: Tuttle PS (13 students, director Cara Hall), Cache PS (2 students, private teacher Cara Hall), Chisholm PS (3 students, director Lindsey Schroder), Bixby PS (1 student, director Kevin Pearson), and 12 students from Deer Creek, Putnam City, and Choctaw who participate in the Edmond area choir "Voce Spiritus" (director Dr. Darla Eshelman).
We have had about 5-10 students from Oklahoma accepted into the choirs in the past, but this is a tremendous change! Congratulations to the students and their teachers!
Good Reads
Guitar Class in the Sooner State
Union Theater Students Partnering with Classmates with Disabilities to Stage Variety Show
Coweta designed Christmas ornaments to be displayed in Washington, D.C.
Lessons from a Marching Band
School District Superintendents Tackle Top 10 Challenge
OKLAHOMA THESPIAN PLAYWORKS nurtures original student-written plays from the page to the stage. The program staff will choose one play to be developed at the Oklahoma Thespian Festival on February 1st and 2nd. A professional director will help the chosen finalists to workshop and present their plays with student actors.
Eligibility: Writers must be active members of the International Thespian Society enrolled in high school during the current school year. All finalists must be available to attend the upcoming Oklahoma Thespian Festival.
Guidelines: Plays must be the original work of a single Thespian writer. Collaborative works or adaptations won’t be considered, nor will plays that include music, lyrics, or dialogue written by any-one other than the submitting writer. Plays can be about any subject but should have a running time of 15 minutes or less (approximately 15 typed pages). Writers may submit more than one play for consideration.
Deadline: Writers may submit work for consideration November 1st-January 5. Early submissions are encouraged. Submissions will not be acknowledged when received. Winning play will be announced on the first day of the Oklahoma Thespian Festival.
Workshops: The writer will collaborate with student actors and directors to bring their play to life with minimal production elements. The writers will observe readings, consult with their directors, receive and provide feedback, and make revisions to strengthen their scripts. The program culminates in staged readings of the play for an OTF audience.
Rights: All work is protected by copyright from the moment it’s created. Writers own their plays and have exclusive control of the rights to produce, publish, and adapt them. By submitting work to Oklahoma Thespian Playworks, you agree to allow the International Thespian Society (at its discretion) to mount a staged reading of your play. The society may also (at its discretion) publish your script (or portions of it) and submit it for their publication consideration. All other rights remain the exclusive property of the writer.
Procedure: Writers should submit their scripts themselves; 12-point type is preferred. The cover page of each submission should include the title of the play, your name and email address, your school name and troupe number, and your troupe director’s name and email address.
Please submit plays to: ryan.king@owassops.org with the title Playworks 2020 as the subject.
The 2019-20 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards for art will be hosted by Oklahoma State University. One of the oldest competitions in the United States, the Scholastic Awards were founded in 1923. Students’ submissions are blindly judged by leaders in the visual and literary arts. Over $250,000 in scholarships are awarded each year. Open to grades 7 – 12, age 13 years or older. Work created in the spring semester of 2019 is eligible for submission, so long as the student hasn’t graduated. Students should submit in their current grade level. Seniors who will graduate mid-term in December 2019 may participate and submit as grade level 12. Students must register in order to submit artwork. Registration opens September 12, 2019.
Submission fees are $7.00 per individual submission and $25.00 per portfolio submission.
Deadline: December 12, 2019, at 10:59p.m (CST). Visit Scholastic Oklahoma Art Region or contact Tammy Beasley (tammy.beasley@okstate.edu) for more information.
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Since 2006, the OU School of Music has welcomed sixth through twelfth grade boys from across the state to the Norman campus for a one-day choral festival of inspiring and enriching music making. The Young Men’s Vocal Workshop, otherwise known as Real Men Sing, is led by OU choral faculty members and distinguished guest conductors. Each year, approximately 800 young men representing scores of high schools, junior high & middle schools, and elementary & intermediate schools. Participants in the Young Men’s Vocal Workshop not only rehearse and perform together, but also they enjoy performances by the OU Men’s Glee Club, OU faculty soloists, and current OU voice students. This year's YMVW will take place on December 6th at Catlett Music Center.
More information is available at the Young Men's Vocal Workshop Website.
UCO Musical Theatre Shadow Day
December 6 & February 28- 9:30 am to 5:30 pm
Registration: Free.
Take an inside look at our Musical Theatre program...meet current faculty/students, tour the UCO campus and more! All participants must audition both individually (monologue/vocal) as well as in a group dance call during this event, no exceptions. A complimentary dinner and tickets to the UCO Musical Theatre performance of Grease in historic Mitchell Hall Theatre round out the day. This free all-day event is open to high school seniors and college transfer students only. Registration at https://ocae.uco.edu
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Calling all Oklahoma student artists! OAEA is excited to announce the second rotation of artwork at the OAEA Youth Art Gallery at Will Rogers World Airport. The Gallery is located on Level 2, near the Military Welcome Center and Southwest Airlines ticket counter (not necessary to go through security.) The display is in sixteen 18 by 24 frames and art is needed from all around the state. The new art will be installed in mid-January and viewed through mid-May.
The artwork below is part of the exhibit up through January 15, 2020. Visit the OAEA website or contact Donna Barnard (dbarnardokc@gmail.com) for more information .
The State Music Educators Conference will be held in Tulsa January 15-18, 2020. The conference includes tracks for elementary music, vocal music, band, and orchestra. There are also many vendors to visit between sessions and the all-state honor ensemble performances. More information is available on the OkMEA website.
Choosing a college or university can be one of the most important decisions made by a student during their senior year of high school. The OAEA and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art are proud to host Portfolio Day, a gathering of colleges and universities across the United States who wish to showcase their visual arts programs, and will meet students to review their portfolios on a one-on-one basis. A comprehensive list of the attending institutions will be available in January. All high schools in Oklahoma are invited to bring, primarily Seniors, interested in pursuing visual arts training at the college level. Juniors are allowed, but please restrict as much as possible due to time and space constraints.
The OKCMOA is hosting this event on Friday, January 17, 2020 from 8:30-2:30. In order to attend, all teachers/schools must pre-register for a specific time. RSVP is required. More information is available on the OAEA website or contact Jacquelyn Knapp (jknapp@usao.edu).
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Today's students have few opportunities to interact directly with nature. As a result, television, movies, and photography have become important links that connect students to the natural world. Through media and the visual arts, conservationists alert us to today’s important environmental issues. They help us develop a greater understanding of the complex relationships upon which all life depends.
Today, as schools struggle to afford enrichment programs like the arts, it is exciting to be able to connect our conservation mission with schools to provide significant scholarships (up to $20,000) for students AND their teachers who work so hard to run their programs on shoestring budgets.
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Entries are due in early January and are judged by a panel made up of both Sutton Center and NatureWorks board members, and art supporters. Student’s artwork will be on display at The Hive in Jenks located at 115 South First Street from January 15-January 26th. A statewide reception displaying all the entries and announcing winners will be held on Sunday, January 26th from 2:00-4:00 p.m. The Sutton Center and NatureWorks, Inc., are proud to recognize the incredible talent of our Oklahoma students! Find more information on the Sutton Award Website or contact Audra Fogle, Director of Development (audrafogle@suttoncenter.org). |
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Registration is open for the 2020 Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute! Please encourage your high school students to audition. Auditions will be held in January and February. You can find more information on the OSAI website. |
December 2-January 6 - Deer Creek High School, Eric Lyons
January 6-31 - Putnam City Public Schools, Brandy Sitts
February 3-28 - Oklahoma Summer Arts Institute at Quartz Mountain
A virtual art gallery is available on the SDE Fine Arts website for students and families who would like to see pictures of their work in the OSDE (Oliver Hodge) Building.
December 6, 2019 - Young Men's Vocal Workshop at OU
December 6, 2019 - Musical Theatre Shadow Day at UCO
December 12, 2019 - DEADLINE Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
January 15-18, 2020 - Oklahoma Music Educators State Conference
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