As you may recall, the hallway outside English 9 usually features these 9th grade self-portraits from their Bias and Stereotypes unit. Fortunately for all of us, this year, Kaitlyn has made a slideshow to continue to share these student voices on bias and assumptions, now more important than ever. Be sure to play with sound on!
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This is so cool! Take a walk through a virtual art gallery. Your 3-D adventure will be filled with amazing works created by SD art students. Major kudos to Carina, Shana and Jen Cronan Flinn for creating this very unique experience! Because this is a complex, 3-D experience, please be patient and allow it to fully load.
The last post was a love note. This post is about musical notes. While we have all been busy teaching online, sophomore Maycie, released her first single across several platforms. You can choose the platform of your choice with this link or watch the video below. This post is a little different. It is not a lesson or a project, but one student's expression of gratitude for all of the lessons, performances, hard work and camaraderie that have defined her experience in the Virtuoso Program. If you are looking for something to make you smile and maybe even cry, this is it. When I asked Luci for permission to share her letter, she said, "I want faculty to read it and hopefully gain a better understanding of what VP is all about."
Not many teenagers can say they’ve had a dance party to Shostakovich’s 8th String Quartet. Or been lovingly threatened with a smack if they didn’t play with a dash of evil. Or anxiously performed in an adjudicated solo recital, only to have their nerves abated by a supportive swarm of orchestra nerds. But the musicians of the Virtuoso Program have. When you’re a musician of the Virtuoso Program you are not just a member of an orchestra, you’re part of a family. For the past four years, I have grown as a musician, stand partner, quartet mate, and friend. All due to this family. Originally, I was terrified of the program. I had never played with an accomplished orchestra before. I could barely sight read (but what’s new), and was anxious about dedicating myself solely to the violin. Like many musicians in VP, I had other interests besides my instrument and wanted to use high school as a time to further and explore those as well. But as soon as I attended my first sectional, performed in my first Vivaldi, and survived my first check in, I began to understand the true value and significance of this opportunity; what sets it apart from any other activity, class, or group. To put it simply, VP is unlike any other interest, passion, or extracurricular. And performing for the Virtuoso Program is a gift that many do not have the chance to receive. Everyday we convene in HOTA for rehearsal, leaving behind our commitments and friends in order to breathe new life into classical music. Setting everything aside, we focus solely on the task at hand - working section by section to hone our intonation or to find the perfect unified phrasing. We collaborate to do a piece justice, to preserve its integrity, to prompt emotion- to make people feel something. And we love it. But VP kids are not only bonded by our appreciation for classical music. We are bonded by the time commitment that tethers us to the program. After rehearsals, we enjoy pizza and listen to the Beach Boys, clumsily stumble along to a JustDance, or watch a Pixar movie. And of course, we practice. We frequently burst into each other's practice rooms, begging each other to sight read or to listen to Oistrakh’s interpretation of a certain cadenza. Everything aside - our community is what ultimately binds us together. The musicians of the Virtuoso Program prove again and again that they are not just talented musicians, but incredible friends. We are kin. We get it. And no one else at San Domenico really understands what it's like to be us. We see the world differently. We understand the value of classical music. We’ve been there at every rehearsal, every concert, every retreat for the past four years. We’re in it for the long haul. And we are friends. This unique bond, unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life, is heartwarming. And I am so devastated to leave next year. It makes my heart hurt. We all have to move on at some point but man it’s going to be difficult. It’s taken me a long time to comprehend and appreciate the impact VP has had on me as a musician and human. There have been moments when I wanted to give up and quit. When I just wanted to be like other kids at San Domenico. But I am so glad I pulled through. VP has made me who I am today. It has sculpted me into a better musician, performer, and person - preparing me for whatever future lies ahead. So thank you. Thank you to my orchestra-mates, my stand partners, my quartet, Rob, Ann, Sergei, Miles, Eugene. I love and miss you all. Luci P. In Wynn's US History class, students recently completed a beautiful immigration scrapbook project. They chose an identity, researched reasons for immigration from their country, described the ship journey and Ellis Island ordeal, and then created a new life in America, "documenting" all of this in the books they created. In previous years, the books were created on paper, but this year, students also had the option to create ebooks. Below is one excellent example made by Hailee Zhao.
Recently, Carina started working with her Art 3 and AP Art students to help them build online portfolios. There work is absolutely amazing. Below are works from William Ma. To see more of his work, take a look at William Ma's Portfolio. (The password is "panthers") Carina is working on a way to share all of them with you soon, so stay tuned!
Mike Berry's students recently did Cartesian Diver experiments at home and recorded their process. You can see the video below by clicking on this link here.
In case you did not see this today in the bulletin, check out the wonderful videos of students performing in Jen's theater classes. I have taught all of these students since 7th grade and it is just amazing to me to see how much they have evolved as actors under Jen's direction. Brava, Jen!!
After studying the Great Depression of the 1930s in Wynn's US History class, students were curious about our current economic downturn and how it compared to the Depression. They looked closely at certain indicators and came to the conclusion that this COVID-19 shutdown is nowhere near as bad as the Great Depression was --not yet, anyway!
This is a 2 for 1 share. You can read the connections students made and also see an excellent use of Padlet for distance learning. Thank you, Wynn! Ann Krinitsky shared this from VP Faculty member Eugene Chukhlov (incidentally, also the father of sophomore Alexandra Chukhlov). Please enjoy this video collage featuring a brief glimpse of a string quartet of Rumi Nguyen, Luci Paczkowski, Vincenzo Calcagno, and Hannah Stone playing Brahms. Click on this link to watch the video below. (The image below is just a screen shot.)
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WHO WE ARETeachers who are so passionate about education that we will go the "distance" to share and learn with our students. Archives
June 2020
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