SDUSD ARTS PROGRAMS KICKSTART CREATIVITY AND COLLABORATION
With SDUSD schools opening in person, students’ artistic creativity is back on display in classrooms across the district. After a year (or more) of distance learning, teachers and students in the visual and performing arts hit the ground running in their Level Up SD summer arts programs, and launched themselves right into the start of the school year. Now, all around the district, the arts are showcasing students’ creativity and community-building.
Theatre
In one of the many arts-based Level Up SD summer sessions, Scripps Ranch High School’s Falcon Playhouse theatre program collaborated with the Mustang Theatre at Marshall Middle School for a theater summer camp. Their combined production of “A Simpler Time,” a collection of 10-minute plays occurring throughout history, culminated in outdoor, masked, public performances on September 2 and 3. Students in grades 7-12 brought the flexible production to life, not only with their acting, but also in designing and constructing all of the sets for the show. In addition, three of the nine scenes were directed by high school students. This experience built strong community ties across the cluster, and brought middle school students and parents onto the campus of the high school for a fabulous theatre arts event. Marshall Theatre Director Jeff Russell says, “We came together with a mission to bring something back to our theater students, something that they had lost in the pandemic: the experience of performing in front of a live audience. Whether we had to socially distance, wear masks, or all of the above, a live audience is the one thing that changed everything for our students in theatre. The community supported the work and the students came together and did something incredible that they could all be proud of.”
Posters from the September production "A Simpler Time," a collaboration between the theatre students of the Scripps Ranch Falcon Playhouse and the Marshall Mustang Theatre
VISUAL ART
Zamorano Fine Arts Academy began the year with a school community collaboration in visual art. Under the guidance of visual art teacher Meera Ramanathan, students in grades 2-5 created a collaborative tile artwork inspired by the clay tiles of British artist Ron Hitchins (1926-2019). During visual art instruction, classes compared and contrasted photos of Hitchins’ ceramic tiles with examples of artwork they themselves would be creating with paper, glue, and marker. Students arranged colored paper triangles inside their “tile,” each grade with a different color scheme, and added lines, shapes, or outlines with Sharpie markers. “It was incredible to see our students participate in the collaborative artwork,” says Meera Ramanathan, Zamorano’s visual art Project Resource Teacher. “Each student was engaged in the lesson by gluing, cutting, and adding lines and shapes to their individual piece while having discussions with their peers about what they were creating. Students motivated and encouraged each other while building a sense of camaraderie and community to start our school year!” When all 502 student tiles were put together, it created a display measuring 6 feet tall by 21 feet in length, which was installed in the school auditorium on September 17.
Zamorano Fine Arts Academy's collaborative tile installation, created by students in grades 2-5 in the first few weeks of school
MUSIC
Artistic collaboration and community impact can also be seen on football fields around the district, where marching bands have reconvened to play their instruments, march in step, and create visual images in macro scale. Juniors and seniors who last marched when they were freshmen and sophomores are taking the field, working side-by-side with two grade levels’ worth of musicians -- current freshmen and sophomores -- brand new to marching. Canyon Hills High School Music Director Michael Fiedler says, “It feels like creating an entirely new system from scratch, which is both exciting and exhausting.”
For many, seeing students back on the field was an incredible sight after missing last year’s marching season. “The performing arts are getting back to what they should be - rehearsing and performing in person,” says Matt Kalal, Director of Instrumental Music at Patrick Henry High School. He also mentions the overwhelming support from the community: “The students of the marching band and color guard have gained confidence and excitement from performing in front of an appreciative and lively crowd.” The reappearance of marching bands in the stands and on the field during halftime have become a shining star in revitalizing school spirit. It’s no wonder those crowds are appreciative.
Patrick Henry High School Marching Band and Color Guard in a September 2021 field performance
During the pandemic, students may have immersed themselves in the arts as a coping mechanism for dealing with an out-of-control world. They found a way to express themselves and their emotions through the arts. Now that students have returned to school sites, having access to classes that encourage creativity and build community are more important than ever. While eager to pick up where we left off, it is also challenging to rebuild confidence and skill. But for all, doing the arts together, collaborating in person again... it feels like a homecoming.