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Arts a la Carte Department of Visual & Performing Arts December 2015—January 2016

Westfield Public Schools Westfield New Jersey

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Please see page 17 for

information on Christmas Tree

Disposal Services…..

Please see page 16 for important information on

the School Bond Referendum

ALL CONCERTS BEGIN AT 7:00 pm unless otherwise noted

Date Place Performance

12/2/15 WHS Orchestra

12/3/15 McKinley Band & Chorus 12/8/15 EIS 7th Gr. Chorus & 6th Gr. Strings

12/8/15 RIS 6th, 7th & 8th Gr. Concert Bands 12/9/15 EIS 6th Gr. Chorus, 8th Gr. Strings & Chamber

12/9/15 RIS All Jazz Ensembles 12/10/15 WHS Band

12/14/15 Franklin Chorus

12/14/15 Jefferson 5th Gr. Band & Chorus 12/14/15 Washington Band & Chorus

12/15/15 EIS 6th & 7th Gr. Band, 7th Gr. Strings 12/15/15 RIS 6th & 8th Gr. Chorus

12/15/15 RIS 6th & 8th Gr. Orchestra – 8:00 pm

12/16/15 EIS 8th Gr. Band & Chorus, Broadway Singers & Jazz Ensemble 12/16/15 RIS 7th Gr. Chorus, Sharps and Flats

12/16/15 RIS 7th Gr. Orchestra & Early Morning Orchestra – 8:00 pm 12/17/15 WHS Chorus

12/21/15 EIS All Elementary Intermediate Strings

12/22/15 Franklin Advanced Band 12/22/15 Tamaques Band & Chorus

12/22/15 Wilson 5th Gr. Band & Chorus 1/20/16 McKinley Beginner Band

1/21/16 Franklin Beginner Band 2/5/16 WHS Chorale Night of Love Songs - 7:30 pm

ALL City Auditions will be starting

soon. Please contact your child’s

elementary music teacher for more information.

.

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Arts a la Carte December 2015-January 2016

Westfield

High School Art

Sophomore, Yenteen Hu’s artwork was chosen for this year’s

Winter Concert program cover. The covers will be used district wide, for

all the upcoming Winter Concerts.

Congratulations Yenteen!

Ceramics II have been

constructing coil pots in which the process of making them is evident

in the finished piece.

DRAWING

The art students in Mrs. Happe-

Conway’s drawing class continue to learn new techniques of drawing.

Students are fine-tuning their seeing

skills and hand-eye coordination.

Still in the linear drawing half of the year, their skills are rapidly

advancing creating layered drawings with increasingly beautiful line

variation and sensitivity. Experimenting with how drawing

media responds to surface selection,

Drawing students created scrolls on a variety of papers; handmade

papers, rice paper, mulberry paper, using familiar medium, feeling the

difference as they touched the

surface, with self-selected subject matter. In class, more and more

complexity will begin to be layered into projects. Works will continue to

develop from the observation of singular objects to complex multi-

object still-lives and environments

as student’s confidence in their ability to make special judgments

increases.

COMPOSITION Composition students have been

investigating the importance of Value Massing and using historical

armatures to make their individual pieces stronger. Working with sound

historical, compositional practices

they have then worked up a series of smaller drawings leading to a

large value massed acrylic painting. Homework assignments are getting

more complex as they begin to

understand the joys and stress, of being responsible for not only the

marks they make, but how they organize space. As they continue to

integrate and test their new knowledge of composition, many

are being empowered to take risk

trying new materials and subject matter.

December 2015-January 2016 Arts a la Carte

ADVANCED PORTFOLIO PREP &

ART HISTORY (ART IV)

For the past month Art IV students have been working on self-directed

pieces and setting up their electronic portfolios. The seniors

had to develop their own themes or

concepts and determine if they would be working from observation

or imagination or a combination of both. They then need to think about

what materials and medium would best develop the concepts they

envision. Pastels, watercolors,

mixed media pieces, collage, acrylic paintings, and colored pencils are

just some of the media selected by individual students.

With the new Marking period upon us Art IV students, begin an intense

exposure to Art History. Working with the Visual Thinking Strategy

method, seniors will spend more

time with individual pieces, investigating and observing. As they

ask themselves, “What is going on in this piece?” and “What do I see

that makes me say that?” they will improve their observational skills,

critical thinking and writing skills.

Closely observing historical works

will then let them make more intentional and stronger decisions

when they create their own art work.

Individual students continue to

curate, hang and exhibit their Sr.

Thesis Shows every three weeks up on the second floor gallery hall at

the High School.

WHS Foundations of Art students

continue to develop a deeper understanding of the elements and

principles of art and how they can be used to help create more

effective works of art. Their exploration of line and what it can

do culminated in a contour line

drawing centering on creating an interesting combination of Fall

leaves. The contour line drawing acts as a separate work of art,

beautiful in the way the lines

describe the delicate nature of each leaf. This acted as a basis for a

watercolor painting which followed. Students carefully studied their

leaves, paying special attention to

the different values within each leave, the veins, and cast shadows.

Currently, students are working on projects to help broaden their

understanding of the elements of art known as shape and value, as

well as the principle of art known as

balance.

Ceramics 1 students learned about

rolling out slabs of clay and draping the clay over a Styrofoam plate in

order to create a decorative ceramic plate. The plates were decorated

with a version of their name, nickname, monogram or initials.

Below is a picture of a student at

work on his plate. Students will then take this knowledge and roll

out a base for the creation of a coil vessel (shown in the other picture).

Students in Crafts are finishing out

the Fibers unit. They already

learned how to sew, how to felt with raw wool and how to create

macramé bracelets. The pictures show students working on the

current Fibers project – Batik. In

one photo, the student is using a tjanting tool and hot wax to draw

his design on muslin. The other photo shows a student who has

already waxed out her design and is

now dying her fabric.


World Crafts Sampler students

are creating sheets of marbleized papers to cover the front and back

of hand-bound journals. The

ripples of colored chalk or thinned acrylic paint are then carefully

manipulated to form kaleidoscopic patterns on the surface of the

paper. Marbleizing, which involves

using absorbent papers to pick up the patterns from the water bath,

dates to the twelfth century.

The students are also designing and cutting an original book plate using

linoleum printing block. The

linoleum print will embellish the journal with color coordinated inks.

Music

WHS Concert Bands

The WHS Wind Ensemble,

Symphonic Band and Concert Band are off to a wonderful start for the

2015/16 school year. All three ensembles are preparing literature

for their December 10th concert, which will be held in the high school

auditorium at 7pm. In addition to

traditional band literature, each of the classes is also working on

chamber music for woodwind and brass choirs.

On December 12th, the following WHS band students will travel to JP

Stevens High School to audition for the CJMEA honor ensembles:

Danielle Gabuzda, Flute/Piccolo Alistair Kapadia, Bassoon

Michael Hauge, Bb/Eb Clarinet Michael Bergman, Alto Clarinet

Matthew Schiff, Bass/Contra Clarinet Daniel Shenker, Alto Saxophone

Albert Chen, Alto/Bari Saxophone

Dale Beyert, Trumpet Austin Chen, Trumpet

Emily Greaney, Trumpet Sofia Gonzalez-Nolde, Trumpet

Mark Kostyack- Euphonium

We would like to wish all

students auditioning the best of luck as they represent the WHS

band!

WHS Jazz Bands

A record number of auditionees tried out for the WHS Jazz Bands in

mid-November. Bands will begin rehearsal in January and will

perform at regional jazz festivals throughout the winter and spring.

Don’t miss the 4th annual Westfield

Jazz Night on Saturday, May 14th in the WHS Courtyard featuring jazz

bands from Roosevelt Intermediate, Edison Intermediate and Westfield

High School.

WHS Winterguard

The Westfield High School Winter Color Guard will begin rehearsal in

December in preparation for the 2016 competitive season. The group

will rehearse twice a week from

December through April and will perform at local and regional

competitions. They will also be giving a stage performance at the

June 7th Jazz and Percussion

Ensemble Concert. Contact Mr. Vitale for more information:

[email protected]

WHS Marching Band

On November 8th, the Westfield High School Marching Band traveled

to Allentown, Pennsylvania to compete in the USBands A-Class

National Championships. The Marching Blue Devils placed first out

of ten competing bands in division

V-A from New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Connecticut, and

Massachusetts with a score of 96.738. WHS received awards for

Best Music and Best Overall Effect.

mailto:[email protected]


The stellar performance at Nationals

capped off a very successful

competitive season for the Blue Devils, which also included a 3rd

Place finish at NJ States and 1st place at the Towson Music in Motion

Northeast Regional competitions.

The 2015 field show was "The

Caged Bird Sings," based on poetry by Maya Angelou. There was bird

imagery throughout: elegant flags designed to resemble wings, 8 large

gold cages on the field, bird calls

and several stanzas of the poem recited by WHS principal, Peter

Renwick.

Westfield High School recently had

six students participate in the NJ All State Chorus, a chorus consisting of

over 200 selected high school students around the entire state of

NJ. These students were not only

accepted through a rigorous audition process, but have spent

several weekends over the course of nearly half a year working to

prepare their concert. Our students sang side by side with the NJ All

State Orchestra at both Boardwalk

Hall in Atlantic City and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in

Newark, NJ. The students sang under the baton of Dr. Anthony

Leach from Penn State University.

A Big Congratulations to the

following students for a stellar job well done and for representing WHS

in this prestigious ensemble! We are

proud of you!

Pictured Left to Right, All State Mixed Chorus Singers: Catherine

Moore, Max Wasilewski, Lucy Hale, Abby Rothenberg, Noah Bram,

Emma Stern

Students in all of the choirs have

been preparing for their winter

holiday concert that will take place

December 17th at 7 PM in the WHS

Auditorium. Among the pieces Mixed Chorus has been working on is a

medley of British Carols that will be sure to please! The WHS Treble

Chorus has been preparing Benjamin Britten’s Deo Gracias, as

well as a 4-part piece by Norwegian

composer, Ola Gjeilo called Tundra. Through its rich word painting a

lush chords, Tundra paints a picture of a vast, cold and weathered

landscape. The WHS Concert Choir

is collaborating once again with WHS Symphony Orchestra and will

be performing Daniel Pinkham’s multi-movement work, Christmas Cantata. The Chorale and Choraleers will be performing both

from the traditional choral music

canon as well as singing familiar holiday and jazz standards.

There will be a Final Rehearsal open

to the public on December 16th,

open to the community during period 6 in the High School

auditorium. If you are interested in attending please email Lorre

Korecky at:

[email protected]

Westfield Choral Parents Association

The WHS Choral department is pleased to announce the formation

of the Westfield Choral Parents Association! The organization was formed to help “promote and

support activities of the WHS Choral Department”. We are

pleased to announce the inaugural

Board Members for this organization:

Amy Flax, President

Audrey Hale, Vice President Karna Gerich Cestero, Vice

President - Fundraising

Eliana Carvajal, Vice President - Marketing

Monica Bergin, Treasurer Tina Wasilewski, Secretary



To find out ways in which you might

get involved in the WCPA, visit http://www.westfieldchoir.org/westf

ield-choral-parents-association.html.

District Choral Night January 20, 2016

The choral department will be

holding its first ever District Choral Night on January 20, 2016 at 7 PM.

The night will include performances by two elementary school 5th grade

choruses, 8th Grade Chorus, RIS

Sharps and Flats, EIS Broadway Singers, and High School Choral

Ensembles.

WHS Choir Leadership Council The new WHS Choir Leadership

council was formed to provide

leadership opportunities to students as well as provide service to the

choir. In order to be involved in the leadership group, students in

Concert Choir have to complete

service projects and have attended monthly meetings. The WHS Choral

Department is proud to announce The 2015/2016 Choir Leadership

Council:

WHS Choir President

Madeleine Rosenthal

WHS Choir Vice President Erin Hanlon

Secretary/Treasurers Meagan O’Connell

Max Wasilewski

Choir Technology/Website Managers

Alan Fang Alex Cestero

Choir Librarians

Alex Cestero Erin Hanlon

Choir Managers Erin Hanlon

Alana Payne

Choir Historian

Isabelle Wright

Section Leader/Assistant Directors Lucy Hale

Catherine Moore

Members

Maggie Bergin Alex Cestero

Jack Ciarrocca William Collum

Alan Fang

Lucy Hale Erin Hanlon

Alison Jaruzelski Briana Lichholt

Catherine Moore Meagan O’Connell

Alana Payne

Madeleine Rosenthal Abby Rothenberg

Max Wasilewski Isabelle Wright

Philip Zanfagna

WHS Orchestras

Concert season is here and we have been hard at work in the Westfield

High School Music department. The

WHS Orchestras are getting ready to kick off concert season on

Wednesday, December 2, 2015. The concert will begin at 7:00 PM and

will feature the String and Chamber Orchestras. This concert will feature

music from Telemann, Bartok,

Saint-Saens, among others. Members of the Chamber Orchestra

will also be featured at the WHS Choir concert on December 17th as

well. We look forward to see you

there!

In December, we are excited to send 11 students from our

orchestras to CJMEA Region auditions on December 12th. For

students with questions about

auditions refer to the CJMEA website at www.cjmea.org. We

wish those students the best of luck at their auditions.

Roosevelt

Intermediate

Art

The students In Mr. Greenwood's 6th grade classes were recently

introduced to the art and culture of

the Australian Aboriginal people. Native to the land of Australia the

Aborigines are nomadic tribesmen who have chronicled their lives and

culture through art for thousands of years. Largely working with natural

materials the Aborigines make cave

paintings, sand sculptures and paintings on skins depicting their

lives. They use art for ceremony, adornment, storytelling and

recorded history. The theory behind

their cultural style is that art brings together the living universe and the

spiritual universe called the “Dream Time”. Artistically, Aboriginal art is

broken down into the use of repetitive dot patterns integrated

with vibrant colors framing a focal

element such as animals. Other topics explored this Fall were

exploration of the Art Elements and designing a promotional poster

based on the history of Westfield.

Students in the 8th grade focused on

a traditional art exercise of drawing

and painting from observation a few weeks ago. The project was a fall

theme based on objects such as pumpkins, wine bottles and foliage.

These items were chosen for their

http://www.westfieldchoir.org/westfield-choral-parents-association.html

http://www.westfieldchoir.org/westfield-choral-parents-association.html

http://www.cjmea.org/


variety of color shapes and

shadows. The project emphasis was about learning to draw “What you

see” not what you assume is there in addition to color basic theory

utilizing complementary colors. This can was done in a variety of

techniques, such as Water color

painting, pencil drawing, crapas and pastels.

Earlier in the Fall the 8th grade

students looked at the work of artist

Romero Britto. Britto’s work comes from a desire and inspiration to

overcome an impoverished childhood and to bring art and joy

to the world. How the impact of art

can motivate and inspire. How art and color can have an influence on

emotions was a theme. To have the students understand that all art

interpretation is individual and to have a more valued and in-depth

appreciation of famous works of

noted artist need to be recognized.

The 8th and 7th grade students in

Mrs. Cohen's classes are working on an enlargement project. They will

take a 6” X 8” picture and make it

into a 15” x 20” picture. They will

use a pencil to create it and then use an ebony pencil or colored

pencils to enhance the subject matter. The 6th graders are

finishing up their woven bookmark; adding fringe to both ends to

embellish their artwork.

Music

RIS Bands The Roosevelt concert bands are

very excited to present our winter

concert on Tuesday December 8th at 7PM. All three concert bands have

spent the past three months preparing a variety of challenging

repertoire.

The 6th grade band will open the

concert with “The Star-Spangled Banner”, under the direction of Mr.

Doyle. Following will be an excellent

march entitled “Valor” by Larry Clark. Ms. Marissa Wright, student

teacher from the John J. Cali School of Music at Montclair State

University, will lead the band in this piece. The 6th grade will close out

their portion of the program with

Ms. Marisa Minogue conducting a wonderful arrangement of

Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers” from The Nutcracker Suite. The 7th

grade band will begin their portion

of the concert with Ms. Wright leading them in “Aztec Fire” an

exciting, fast-paced piece by Jay Bocook. Next, Mr. Doyle will conduct

the band in an arrangement traditional Hanukkah tunes called

“Hanukkah Holiday”. Ms. Minogue

will close the 7th grade portion by conducting the band in an

arrangement of Johannes Brahms’ “Academic Festival Overture”. The

8th grade band will open with a

patriotic medley entitled “March On America”, which features a few very

popular patriotic tunes. Next, they will perform a three-movement

work, “Suite from The Planets” by

Gustav Holst. Arranger Calvin Custer

used three of the movements from Holst’s original orchestral work:

Mars, Venus, and Jupiter. The 8th grade band will close the concert

with their rendition of “Sleigh Ride”, a holiday classic by the great

American composer Leroy Anderson.

On Wednesday December 9, the

RIS jazz ensembles will be performing their winter concert. The

Accidentals, Morning Jazz, and The

Naturals have been preparing since the beginning of the school year.

Featured works include “Go Tell It on the Mountain”, “White

Christmas”, “The Sound of Silence”, Georgia on My Mind” and others.

This concert will also feature solos

from a number of RIS students. December 9th at 7PM- don’t miss

out!

The 8th grade had a wonderful

performance at the Veterans Day Assembly on November 9th. The

band played “March on America” as students entered and exited the

gymnasium. This medley included

the tunes “You’re a Grand Old Flag”, National Emblem March” and “The

Stars and Stripes Forever”. Many compliments were received from

administration and teachers on how professional the band looked and

sounded. In addition, Max Tennant

played a beautiful rendition of “Taps” on the trumpet. Thanks to

all who attended!

The 8th grade band will also be

participating in the WHS recruitment day on January 13th. The band,

chorus and orchestra will travel to WHS and spend an afternoon

performing with their high school counterparts. The bands will be

rehearsing for an evening

performance on the 13th, where they will join the stage with the 8th

grade concert band from EIS and the WHS Wind Ensemble. This is a


yearly event and is an excellent

opportunity to see the wide range of talent in the Westfield band

program. It will take place at 7PM in the high school auditorium.

RIS Chorus

At RIS all chorus classes have been

doing great work. The 6th and 7th graders have been doing

rhythm projects where they are composing rhythm pieces to given

texts. They are having fun as well

as understanding written rhythms better. The Sharps and Flats as well

as the eighth grade chorus sang at the annual Veterans Day Assembly

on November 9th. Sharps and Flats sang The Star Spangled Banner

while the eighth grade chorus sang

America the Beautiful. Both groups sounded fantastic which set the

tone for the assembly. All chorus classes are working hard on their

Holiday Concert Music. Our concerts

are Tuesday December 15th for 6th and 8th grade chorus and

Wednesday December 16th for 7th grade chorus and Sharps and Flats.

The concerts are going to be a

blast.


The choral department will be holding its first ever District Choral

Night on January 20, 2016 at 7 PM.


choruses, 8th Grade Chorus, RIS Sharps and Flats, EIS Broadway

Singers, and High School Choral

Ensembles.

Drama

Congratulation to the RIS cast and crew of Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Bravo to all!

Edison

Intermediate

Art

The 6th grade students in Ms. Hooper's class completed an

exciting unit based on the Mexican holiday called Day of the Dead. Day

of the Dead is a time when people

get together to celebrate family and friends who have passed. The

students created colorful bas-relief clay Masks and have just begun a

new unit on 1 Point Perspective. Studying examples such as the Last

Supper, by Leonardo DaVinci, the

students are learning how artists

use mathematics (measuring) to

create the illusion of 3 dimensional form on a flat (2-D) sheet of paper.

The 7th graders also joined in the

excitement of the Day of the Dead

celebration at EIS. Some of the students painted 2-D masks

commemorating a loved one while others built a plaster Skeleton which

was decorated to resemble a friend or family member. All of the

projects created in the EIS art

classes were proudly displayed down by the school gym alongside

the decorations and stories written by the students enrolled in the

Spanish classes.


Ms. Hooper worked collaboratively

with the 7th grade History teacher, Mrs. Jackie Messenger, to teach the

students about the art of Illuminated Manuscripts and the

historical impact of these beautiful books. Each child was given the

opportunity to design an Illuminated

Letter (Initial) which was decorated with gold metallic markers to imitate

the gold leaf used on the original art pieces from the Medieval times.

Eighth grade Fine Arts students have been busy practicing how to

accurately render the 4 facial features of the human head.

Beginning with the eyes, students worked on creating realistic, shaded

drawings of the nose, mouth and

ears. Afterwards, each artist selected a photo of a celebrity to

draw for an 18" x 24" Portrait. The students have the opportunity to

select which medium ( pencil/

charcoal/ oil pastel or paint) they would like to use for the final "

bigger than life" Portrait Project.

Students in Ms. Hooper's Crafts

classes are finishing up their Fibers Unit by completing a Coil Basket

and a Cardboard Loom Weaving and have moved onto Tie-Dying. Each

artist was able to experiment with a variety of tie-dye methods and use

a piece of dyed fabric to build a

small pillow. The running, whip and

blanket stitches were taught to the students who will be able to apply

these stitches to sew the sides of their pillows and also incorporate

these stitches within the design of their upcoming Paper Embroidery

project.

Students in Mrs. Frees Crafts class

are benefitting from her visit to the

Art Conference with lots of new ideas flowing in her classroom. They

just finished a project on the tree of life. The students are learning about

the Native American love and reverence for nature. The students

brainstormed ideas about what a

tree could represent for them. They thought of family, of favorite

pastimes, of favorite times of year and seasons. The students did a

beautiful job with the project and it

became a wonderful mixed media project. Students are continuing

working with fibers, and are learning basic sewing techniques.

They are also getting a chance to use our sewing machines that we

received from a grant from the

Coalition for the Arts!

The students in 7th grade are doing

a new lesson on Pop Art that involving black acrylic mixed with

Gesso to create the shiny “ben day” dot technique that Roy Lichtenstein

used to create his work. The students are focusing their attention

on art history and movements of

art. We talked about Andy Warhol using the dark black lines and the

contrast with the bright colors. The students learned about still life

drawing in their assessment, they

drew using ellipses to create cylinders that had proper

perspective. The kids used liquid watercolor to paint and they were

excited to use a new material.

Students in 6th grade learned about

cultural art from South America, making Chanchitos (tiny pigs) and

also working on Foam relief sculptures for Day of the Dead.

They are learning perspective and

are having a wonderful time. They are focusing on being able to see

cubes from both above and below the horizon line.


Music

EIS Bands

The 8th Grade Band had their first performance at the EIS Veterans

Day Assembly on November 11th. Performing for a packed house, they

played “Armed Forces On Parade”

and a challenging Claude T. Smith arrangement of “America, The

Beautiful.” The 8th Grade Band was able to show off the hard work they

put in over the first months of school.

The 7th and 8th Grade students

joined the WHS Marching Band on October 3rd at the annual Band Day

performance. Playing “Crazy Train” and “Fight on Blue Devils” the

students had the opportunity to play

on the field with other band students from RIS along with the

entire Award Winning WHS Marching Band.

The Concert Bands are hard at work

preparing for their Winter Concert.

The 8th Grade Band is working on the very rhythmic piece “First

Landing Celebration” by Michael Oare and Richard Saucedo’s

“Ukrainian Bell Carol” which will be

an exciting rendition of the classic holiday tune for their concert on

December 16th. The 6th and 7th Grade Bands are working on a wide

variety of songs ranging in genres from patriotic, cultural to holiday.

Their concert will be held on

December 15th.

The EIS Jazz Band has been rehearsing every Tuesday morning

at 7:15am before school. Working on skills such as swing and

improvisation, the group is

improving rapidly. Also performing on the December 16th concert you

can hear the jazz band perform “St. Louis Blues,” “Don’t Get Around

Much Anymore” and a special

holiday jazz tune.


The choral department will be holding its first ever District Choral

Night on January 20, 2016 at 7 PM.


choruses, 8th Grade Chorus, RIS Sharps and Flats, EIS Broadway

Singers, and High School Choral

Ensembles.

EIS Orchestra The Orchestra students are very

excited to welcome Ms. Fatsis as

their Director for the remainder of the school year! Ms. Fatsis spent

the beginning of the year working with the EIS Chorus students and is

looking forward to working with the instrumental students as well. The

Orchestra are busy preparing for

their December concerts with selections such as "Adamant" by

Larry Clark, "Christmas Time is Here" arranged by Bob Cerulli and

"Procession of the Nobles" arranged

by Deborah Baker Monday.

Drama

Congratulations to the cast and crew of EIS' Fall Production, Stuart Little. The fun and laughs

were one that will not soon be forgotten. Some of the stars of this

amazing production include Kathryn

Bartlett as Stuart Little, Thomas Lupicki as Mr. Little, Madison Bryant

as Mrs. Little, Ana Fowler as Snowbell the cat, Elisa Saint Denis

as Margalo the bird, and a huge group of talented students that

helped to bring this classic story to

life. It was a great job and we are all so proud of you!

Franklin

Elementary

Art

The Art Students at Franklin School

are using their creative energies to produce many works of art. Under

the direction of Mrs. Coveney, the

color wheel with its warm and cool colors is being experienced through

painting. Mixing and identifying colors can be seen through a variety

of artistic creations. New vocabulary

has been introduced and executed in their art projects.

The 2nd grade art students use the

color wheel to identify their primary,

secondary, warm and cool colors. They learned how to mix tints and

shades. A tint is when you mix any color with white and a shade is

when you mix any color with black. Through this experience, a sky was

created with a selected perspective


by adding mountains in 2 neutral colors. The mountains were torn to

create a foreground and the sky became a background. Symmetry

and asymmetry will be our focus

and student’s growth and learning will be assessed.

The 3rd grade art students worked

with symmetry by creating a large mask. Crayon and tempera paint

were the media of choice. They

experienced a transfer process which allowed them to see

symmetry. They developed their mask and finished it off with a wax

resist technique. This allows them to become accustom to different art

vocabulary and enriched their

artistic sense. Regular and irregular patterns were introduced and

students learning were evaluated.

The 4th grade students were introduced to Georgia O’Keeffe

which proved to be an inspiring influence for their paintings. The

drawings used large shapes and

they were taught this skill by the use of cropping. Warm and cool

colors were used and paint brush pens created a successful painting.

Tints and shades were introduced

and applied to create geometric cityscapes. Foreground, Middle

ground and Background were reviewed and were apparent.

The 5th grade students experienced

a new medium for their introductory project. Acrylic paint was used to

create a Foreground, Middle ground

and Background. The school year began with a bang as the subject

matter for their paintings was a sky filled with Fireworks and its

reflective body of water. Shades

were used to create distance and space within the composition. The

students’ creative experience has helped Mrs. Coveney with their

assessments and proving student learning.

All students are thoroughly engaged and enjoying their art experiences.

Music

Like the leaves on the trees, fall is

quickly fading into winter but things are growing brighter in our music

classes at Franklin as we enter the holiday season. Our 2nd graders

have been moving, playing and

singing about a little furry critter that is getting ready for the colder

months. Yes, you guessed it. A squirrel! Through our songs they

have discovered a new rhythm, the half note and a new note on the

staff, Re. Over the next month,

they’ll begin their study of the instrument families and create

motions to go with selections from The Nutcracker. In January, the

second graders will begin

experiencing songs in Do hexatonic, but they’ll have to be patient as

they discover this tonal pattern in third grade.

Third graders are working hard on reading and composing rhythm

poems using their known rhythms. Soon they’ll be able to use their new

note, the sixteenth note, which they discovered through the popular

singing game, “Chicken on a

Fencepost”. They also worked on alternating mallet technique on the

xylophones and metallophones. Like the 2nd graders, the 3rd graders will

also explore the instruments of the

orchestra, but will learn about each individual instrument and how they

produce their sound.

Fourth graders have been quite successful in performing songs with

more complex textures and meters. Not only are they singing partner

songs and canons, but they’re also

singing partner songs that are canons. They also began exploring

different modes and recently sang and played in Dorian and Aeolian. In

January, the 4th graders will be

discussing form and style as they learn several dances and clapping

games from around the world. This will also tie into a unit on poetry in

music as they examine the natural prosody of words.

December is a busy month, but we

hope you can take some time out of

your busy schedule to enjoy one of our many concerts. The Franklin 5th

Grade Chorus & Glee Club concert will be held on Monday, December

14 at 7:00 p.m. This song will

feature student accompanists as well as some Franklin alum on

strings and oboe.

The Franklin Glee Club is excited to collaborate with the New Jersey

Festival Orchestra again for their “Home for the Holidays” concert.

They will also be combining with

some of McKinley’s students for this public concert on December 5 at the

Presbyterian Church in Westfield. Later in December the Glee Club will

also share their talents at a local assisted living home as they bring

holiday cheer during their annual

caroling trip.


Jefferson

Elementary

Art

First grades are just finishing up

their African Masks. Your children should be able to tell you how many

continents are in the world, what continent they live in, what

continent they studied and a little

about the life of the average South African student. The children

explored pattern making with watercolor paint and crayon resist.

They created hair with chenille stems and are now delving into the

plethora of the choices offered in

this multi-media project.

Second graders have just completed their study of block lettering,

creating name banners. In some

classes, children created one feather in a class turkey using diffusible

paper oil pastel crayons and watercolor paints. They are now

beginning a group project based on

the works of Keith Haring that will introduce the concept of body

proportions.

The children in the 3rd grade have begun a science-based unit studying

the way the eye works and sees

color. We will be discussing the science behind 3-D animation.

Fourth graders did an amazing job

with their still life pictures in

charcoal. They are now tackling their “One Point Perspective” cities.

This is a very difficult concept for the children to learn; but they

always end up being most proud of this project at the end of the year.

Fifth grade children continue to

work on their projects on “Dia de los Muertos”. The children have

studied this national Mexican

holiday, sketched out the anatomy

of a skeleton and have begun the

structure of their marionettes. Some classes have started cutting

fabric outfits that we will be sewing onto the puppets. We will string the

marionettes last.

McKinley

Elementary

Art

McKinley artists have been working hard communicating their artistic

voice through their art projects. Every student is engaged in his or

her own authentic art-making experience and it really shows

through their uplifting creations.

First grade artists are focusing on

their color mixing, color theory and have a lot of fun creating their first

ever color wheel! A color wheel

helps these young artists to identify colors, mix colors and choose the

best color for their artwork. Class 1-2 even made a 3-D color wheel by

selecting broken recycled crayons and gluing them onto a ceramic tile.

The students identified the color

family for each crayon piece and glued it down into its correct space

on their color wheel. Many of the other first grade classes mixed their

own paint to create their artistic

tool.

Second grade artists are completing

their unit on positive and negative space with their final project making

a paper stencil print. The students are learning how to transform

negative space into positive space by sponging color through their cut

paper stencils. The cut negative

space of their stencil is used to form the positive space of their print!

These students showed much independence in their classroom

studios and have really

concentrated on good craftsmanship in their artwork. Check out these

artists in action!

Third grade artists have just finished their non-toxic oil painting where

value was used to create form. The

students observed light falling upon a bunch of apples positioned on

their desk. Concepts such as value, cast shadow, reflected light, shadow

and highlight were introduced and

used to form these representational paintings. After an initial pencil

sketch, color was added by using our own homemade oil paint. To

make this paint, the artist simply

applies baby oil with a brush to a swatch of oil pastel. Through layers

of wash, value is created and form is developed. Backgrounds were

added as a final touch where each student was given the opportunity

to express their own aesthetic.


Fourth grade artists are putting the

final touches on their Joan Miro

(Spanish, 1893- 1983) inspired paper mache organic shaped

sculptures. The students studied important curricular concepts of 3-D

form, organic shapes and limited palette. These hard working artists

are currently painting and designing

the surfaces of their sculptures. It has been a lot of hard work, but the

students have shown much perseverance as their final 3-D piece

has transformed from their initial 2-

D sketch.

Fifth grade artists are in the final stages of their plaster casting.

These hard working artists created a model sculpture out of tin foil, tape,

model magic clay and sculpt-a-mold.

Artistic concepts of proportion,

model, form and cast were

understood and utilized through their art making. In these final

stages, the students have covered their

model by draping a layer of paper

mache on top of their form. This

paper mache layer will dry and then be removed from their model form.

Under close supervision, the students will mix their own plaster

and pour it into a paper mache

“mask” to create their plaster cast. Once dried, the cast is removed

from the paper mache and a final layer of wood glue is used to seal

this plaster cast. Once dried, the students will complete their plaster

cast with a sponge layer to create

faux texture to make their sculptures look as if they are made

of marble or metal. A very complicated and lengthy process,

but these students are having an

exciting time and really enjoy the detailed process to make their very

own plaster casts!

Tamaques

Elementary

Art

Puppetry is an ancient art form that has been used in every culture. It

continues to appeal to all ages. The 2nd graders in Mrs. Massenzio’s

classes created wonderful owl

puppets, using various textures and materials. The students learned that

there are about 180 species of owls around the world. Owls have eyes

that face forward- their eyes don’t

move: extra neck bones allow owls to twist their heads so far around,

that they can see their backs!

The 3rd graders in Mrs. Massenzio’s classes learned how to create a

successful still life of overlapping

glass bottles. The students

developed an awareness of line, shape, composition and how to

create depth through the use of overlapping shapes. Symmetry,

shading, perspective and the use of warm and cool colors, were focal

points in the lesson.

The 4th grade classes had fun

learning all about trapeze artists. The students discovered that paper

can be manipulated and bent in a

myriad of ways. Everyone enjoyed experimenting with various

materials and textures to create their own 3-dimensional trapeze

artists, hanging from a trapeze bar. Jules Leotard was the first flying

trapeze act on record. It occurred in

1859 in Paris. The tight sleeveless garment is named after him!

After a recent class trip to Sandy

Hook, the 5th graders had a perfect

tie-in art lesson! Sandy Hook, N.J. has the oldest operating lighthouse

in the United States. It is 85 feet tall and has operated continuously since

1746, except for periods of darkness

during wartime. The children created their own beautiful

lighthouses, using mixed media. The students learned how to create a

seascape, learned about texture, and at the same time learned all

about lighthouses and their

interesting history.

Music

Tamaques & Washington

4th & 5th Grade Bands

The Tamaques and Washington 4th grade band students were excited to

play the following songs at their family’s Thanksgiving Feast: Hot

Cross Buns, Rolling Along and Go

Tell Aunt Rhodie! The students plan to entertain family and friends


over the holidays with Jingle Bells

and My Dreydl!

The Washington and Tamaques 5th

Grade band students are busy preparing for their December

concerts. The students are hard at work on First Winter’s Sleigh Ride, The Good King Rocks, Chanukah Joy and Invasion of the Christmas Crabs! Family and friends are invited to the

free concerts! The Tamaques 5th

Grade Chorus and Band Holiday Concert is Tuesday: December 22nd

at 7:00 PM in the Tamaques School auditorium. The Washington

School Chorus and Band Concert is Monday: December 14th at 7:00 PM

in the Washington School

auditorium. Come and enjoy the music!

Washington

Elementary Art

Artists at Washington School have been getting their hands messy with

some awesome artwork!

In 1st grade, students have started

learning the art basics; line and shape. After building lines that could

stand, they wove lines, drew long

squiggling lines and then bent them

into shapes. They are now

arranging a variety of interesting shapes into a sculpture in the style

of Louise Nevelson.

Second grade students are creating

landscapes. This unit of study began with a collaged picture of the ocean.

Using two different types of paint

and unique gluing and tearing techniques, students were able to

create some beautiful pieces. They are now drawing and painting

a mountain scene that shows an

understanding of foreground, middleground, and background.

The 3rd grade is working on the basic principles and elements of

design. Most interestingly, each

student recently created an image that displayed repetition and unity

by using their first initial 12 times in one image. Artists are now using

text to create sculptures. We're all excited to see the results!

Fourth grade artists are investigating figure drawing. With

Keith Haring as their inspiration, students are creating colorful people

in markered drawings as well as

complex, 3D sculptures. The bright

colors and active designs display a new level of energy in the work.

In 5th grade, students recently added color and shading to large-

scale crayon drawings. They have

really brightened up the hallways around the building! Artists in this

grade have now moved onto a study of portraiture with a twist. Each

artist is drawing his or her face in

the Cubist style. This is turning out to be a really fun project!

Look for more examples of the work

from Washington School at: www.artsonia.com/washington76

Music

All the students at Washington

worked very hard during the month of November on their variety of

songs for the Fall Sing Along. This

exciting event was held on November 25th in the gym at

Washington and was a bit hit. The students were very excited to

showcase their hard work!

http://www.artsonia.com/washington

December 2015-January 2016 Arts a la Carte Throughout November, we

discussed rhythms and using

dances, body percussion and games to help our understanding of specific

kinds of rhythmic values. We have already discussed pitch, melody,

dynamics, and texture and the

students have demonstrated their

knowledge by singing songs and playing games that incorporate

these important musical concepts.

Throughout December, the students

will be exploring the many instruments, timbres and colors of

the orchestra. The students will learn about how sounds are

produced on instruments and why specific voices vary. They will be

listening and analyzing music,

determining tone color and quality.

The 5th grade chorus is enthusiastically preparing for our

upcoming winter concert! This will

take place on December 14th at 7pm and will include both the 5th

grade chorus and band here at Washington. We will be singing a

wonderful mix of songs about

Winter, Christmas and Hanukkah. Some favorites of ours include

“You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” and “Deedle Deedle Dai”. All are

welcome to attend this free concert at 7pm in the gym at Washington!

Wilson

Elementary

Art

The frogs are back! First grade

learned to draw fantastic frogs through direct instruction and then

painted them using warm and cool colors! They also used their newly

acquired knowledge about color

theory to create printed leaf patterns with tempera paint.

Grade 2 recently learned about tints

and shades. They created small

planets, first with oil pastels and then with tempera paint, to learn to

balance the black and white with

color. Next they composed their planets into super galactic galaxies

complete with space ships and alien

beings! They are out of this world!

The students in 3rd grade are also focusing on color theory, learning

about complementary color sets.

They created 3-D color wheels with model magic and then designed

their very own complementary color emoji designs! They will finish their

unit on complementary colors with tempera paints learning how to

neutralize the colors when they are

combined.

3rd Gr. Complimentary Color Emojis

Grade 4 is learning about 3-D form.

They recently began their plaster sculpture unit…. creating Minions!

This project is hands down the class favorite! Look for an awesome

display in the main hallway soon!

The 5th grade is focusing on creating mixed media fish paintings which

will serve as artwork for a fundraiser

for the PTO. Next they will begin

their self-portraits.

Coming Soon…MINIONS!!!

Music

Music classes are in full swing at

Wilson School: we sing, we learn theory…… and we move! Our

fearless 5th graders, like all their district counterparts, are busy

preparing for the 2015 Winter

Concert. In addition to choral performance, soloists will be

featured, as well as various instrumental accompaniments.

When not studying repertoire, 5th graders are focused on identifying

major and minor intervals, visually

and aurally. We’re off to a good start!

The thriving 3rd and fantastic 4th

graders continue to work on note-

reading skills. Signs and symbols of the music staff are also under study

and students are exploring new repertoire.

Our super 2nd graders are having fun getting to know the instruments

of the orchestra. Listening to our “very special” guest, oboist Rachael

Siegel, in a performance of the second movement of Camille Saint-

Saens’s Sonata for Oboe, was quite

unique. She is awesome! (We all know there is no substitute for a live

performance!) The children learned a great deal from Ms. Siegel during

the question and answer sessions


following her performances. She

plans to re-join us at some point,

playing other instruments for the 2nd graders.

Our “fenomenal” (as in Spanish) 1st

graders officially made their “debut” as Wilson performers during the

Halloween Sing-Along. Everyone

loved them! Most recently they have been learning about the

Underground Railroad and singing some of the songs connected to this

important piece of American history.

Many of the Wilson School students

continue to enjoy presenting short, informal performances (of singing,

dancing or playing an instrument) for their peers. They are developing

the necessary confidence for a

future of hopefully many amateur and professional performances!

Lincoln

School

Our kindergarteners are working hard while in art class – painting

and drawing. In December and

January, we will be working with primary and secondary colors,

creating perspective in a winter landscape and adding a bit of

sculpture in for fun.

Our littlest students in pre-k have

been hard at work creating wonderful art with a focus on a

different shape each week. In December and January, we will be

focusing on color, 3-dimensional design including sculpture and

collage with some patterning mixed

in. Should be a fun time for all!

The first graders in Tamaques have been focusing on line, form and

pattern during the first few months of school. We will start building on

those skills and concepts in

December and January, when we create art with symmetry, color and

texture.

IMPORTANT SCHOOL

IMPROVEMENTS PROPOSED

The following proposals will be

presented to Westfield voters in the

January 26 School Bond Referendum

Projects in Question #1 are those things

that need to be done so we can keep

functioning safely and effectively.

Question #2 is meant to achieve a

comprehensive solution – one that

resolves the problems with the acoustic

quality, seating, air conditioning, etc. – to

our intermediate school auditoriums. The

projects in both questions are

ELIGIBLE FOR 40% FUNDING FROM

THE STATE.

Proposal #1 – Safety, Security & Technology Upgrades

Replacement of fire alarms in10 buildings

Replacement of public address systems in all10 schools

Replacement of switches and Wi-Fi upgrades( cabling) in all elementary schools

Replacements of multi-purpose room floors at three schools

Replacement of boilers at Jefferson, Roosevelt, Westfield High School, & Wilson

Installation of gym partition at Westfield High School

Installation of barrier free access at McKinley and Roosevelt

Proposal #2 –Renovations & Upgrades to Edison / Roosevelt

Auditoriums

Replacement of seats, including barrier free seats

Replacement of sound system

Installation of acoustical treatments

Barrier free stage access

Electrical and lighting upgrades, including stage lighting

Replacement of flooring

For more information, please visit

www.westfieldnjk12.org

http://www.westfieldnjk12.org/


Support the Choir and Band programs at Westfield High School!

Have your Christmas tree picked up and brought to the conservation center by one of our musicians!

Saturday, January 9

$15 per tree Order by January 1

Email [email protected] for order forms



Westfield Coalition for the Arts

FALL 2015

Dear Westfield Parents: The mission of the Westfield Coalition for the Arts is to act as an advocate for the

arts, including music, drama, visual arts, and dance in the Westfield Public Schools, by speaking out on behalf of the arts, maintaining public awareness and utilizing sources of community, financial and philosophical support. Each year we award grants to different arts programs in the schools based upon applications submitted to us from the Westifield Schools’ faculty. This year, we were happy to award over $20,000 in grant money for the following: Guest Clinicians to work with the WHS Band, an Apple TV for RIS music program, a field trip for Ms. Gant’s 8th Grade Orchestra at EIS, a Guest Collegiate Choral Director for WHS Choir, acoustic ceiling tiles for the WHS Band Room, transportation for the WHS Choir to travel to a senior housing complex, Master Classes for the WHS Chorale, musical instruments for Franklin School, music conferences for faculty, art supplies for RIS, new drum sets for RIS, EIS and WHS, and beautifully embroidered choir robes for the high school. We are so fortunate to live in a community that reveres the arts and believes strongly in nourishing the diverse talents of our youth. Demonstrate YOUR commitment to the arts by making a donation today. With your donations we are able to assist the music, choral, fine art, and theatre programs at the elementary, intermediate and high school levels. We are an independent, not-for-profit organization, and we depend solely on the generosity of parents and supporters. In addition, the Coalition is interested in your ideas, suggestions, and comments and hope that you will take the time to email us at [email protected]. PLEASE “LIKE” us on FACEBOOK and visit our website: http://www.WestfieldCoalitionForTheArts. We look forward to hearing from you! Thank you for your support.

~ Margaret Smith, W.C.A. President _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Yes, I/we would like to support the WCA. I/we will donate:

Benefactor $500 Sponsor $75

Angel $200 Sustaining Member $50

Patron $100 Donation $_______

In appreciation of your gift of $75.00 or more, your name will print in the Winter & Spring concert programs. Name: ____________________________________________________________________________ (If donating $75 or more, please print the name as you would like it to appear in the programs.) Email: _________________________________________________Phone: _________________________ Westfield Public School (where youngest child attends): _____________________________________ Yes, I am interested in volunteering with the Coalition. Check here :____

Please make checks payable to Westfield Coalition for the Arts and mail to:

WCA Treasurer, 562 Pierson St., Westfield NJ 07090

http://www.westfieldcoalitionforthearts.weebly.com./

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