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Great News!
- Fairfax County Public Schools Band teacher, Jacob Kohut, was featured nationally for his serving as a National Guard member and continuing to hold class for his students! Thank you to Jacob Kohut and all of our teachers who serve in our armed forces. Check out the news article from the Washington Post.
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Charlottesville High School Theatre Department was featured in the news for their virtual play!
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Pharrell drops in on Suffolk students at Nansemond River High School. Dr. Joleen Neighbors and her women’s choir piloted a new program called Your Voice is Power.
- Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) choral teachers put together a virtual choral concert and presentation involving 350 middle and high school students from 37 secondary schools.
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Amanda Sprouse, Alleghany County High School choir teacher, was recognized as the WDBJ7 Hometown Mentor for February! Ms. Sprouse was nominated by a student for making a huge impact.
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Brief: Arts Play a Role in Building School Community, Even Remotely.
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VDOE to Host a Meeting Series for Division Leaders of Fine Arts Education
The Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is sponsoring 2021 VDOE Fine Arts Division Leadership Virtual Meetings for fine arts administrators and curriculum specialists of Virginia’s 132 school divisions. Each school division is encouraged to send individuals who supervise Fine Arts instruction for students in K-12, including central office specialists and division contacts for fine arts. Additional details, dates, and registration information are found in VDOE Superintendent's Memorandum #043-21.
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Black History Month Resources Have Been Compiled by VDOE
As our nation prepares to observe Black History Month, the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is pleased to provide school divisions and communities with the following Black History Month resources to honor and recognize African Americans and their achievements and contributions to America.
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Fine Arts Resource Round-Up
Check out the following resources and opportunities we've run across for fine arts educators this month:
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Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum is offering a free virtual Design Field Trip for students nationwide. Whether you are teaching from home or from school, the museum is excited to bring design to you. The interactive field trip inspires the next generation of designers to take action in their community, build self-confidence and self-esteem, and learn how to harness their superpowers to create change for the better. Registration is open and spots are going fast! Request your Design Field Trip today.
- Grammy-nominated, José-Luis Orozco will release his latest album, Muévete!: Songs For A Healthy Mind In A Healthy Body on April 17th via Smithsonian Folkways. The album celebrates multiculturalism and bilingualism, with movement to keep healthy, especially around the Coranavirus epidemic. For more information see this article.
- The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Educational Technology (OET) has released two new resource guides: the Teacher Digital Learning Guide and the School Leader Digital Learning Guide. These guides provide strategies to help teachers and school leaders effectively incorporate digital learning strategies both inside and outside the classroom. They may also use the information to support parents and families as they navigate learning from home. The Teacher Guide includes insights on ways to meet the unique needs of students by using educational technology, facilitating personalized learning for students, and embracing professional development opportunities. The Leader Guide helps school leaders develop a vision for digital learning by planning, funding, implementing, maintaining, and adapting learning programs designed to best serve and empower students of all abilities. These publications are a companion to the Parent and Family Digital Learning Guide. All three guides are posted on OET’s web site.
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Tools for Learning Dance: Middle School: These dance modules and activities build in complexity by teaching and reinforcing skill focused on middle school. The content uses social and emotional strategies to create positive engagement, personal enjoyment, and strategies to develop an appreciation for all movement forms. Check out the complete module packet today.
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Virginia Opera announces Virtually Amazing Opera - FREE and available to all Virginia schools and educators: Virginia Opera is pleased to announce Virtually Amazing Opera, free and available to all Virginia schools and educators.
The Princess and the Pea is a 30-minute children’s opera aimed primarily at grades K-3, with a teachers’ Study Guide also available. To view the trailer for The Princess and the Pea, access the study guide, and sign up to receive free access to the virtual production, visit vaopera.org/learn .
Older music students (and teachers!) will be interested in the Denyce Graves Masterclass Series. This series of eight 30-40 minute videos shows the world-renowned mezzo-soprano doing intensive work with Virginia Opera’s own Emerging Artists in a (virtual) masterclass setting. Episodes will be released weekly starting Wednesday, January 27th, and will be accessible here:
(This series is otherwise only available to our subscribers and donors, but we wanted to also make it available, free, to you and Virginia’s teachers.)
Additional Virtually Amazing Opera programming will be released this spring and fall and we would like to encourage all Virginia Educators to visit vaopera.org/learn and register to receive more information (via the button at the bottom of that page).
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Your Voice is Power: Pharrell Williams, Amazon and Georgia Tech: Students explore how computer science, music, and entrepreneurship can advance equity. Using Georgia Tech's EarSketch platform, students code a 30 second – 3 minute musical remix using Pharrell's new song "Entrepreneur". Submitted remixes will be judged based on quality of music, code, and messaging by a panel of industry professionals. Students can compete with their class or on their own from January 15 to June 4, 2021. Five students will win a $5,000 scholarship or grant to start a business, and five teachers will receive $1,000 for above and beyond instruction.
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Three NAfME Student Composers and Songwriters Competitions are now open. Entries are due by April 9.
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Contact
Kelly Bisogno, Coordinator of Fine Arts
Virginia Department of Education
kelly.bisogno@doe.virginia.gov
(o) 804-225-2881
(fax) 804-786-1597
P.O. Box 2120
Richmond, VA 23218-2120
Michelle Milligan, Music Specialist
Virginia Department of Education
michelle.milligan@doe.virginia.gov
(o) 804-371-4919
(fax) 804-786-1597
P.O. Box 2120
Richmond, VA 23218-2120
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