Announcements & Upcoming Events

Spring Showcase | Did you miss our Spring Showcase?! Click HERE to watch!

Congratulations to our Drama Club! | Each spring, the NCTC Middle School Play Festival brings together students from across NC to share their talents, receive feedback from industry professionals and celebrate theatrical excellence. While the pandemic is preventing us from meeting in-person this year, it won’t stop theatre students and teachers from presenting outstanding work. This showcase celebrates how theatre artists can overcome any challenge and meet the moment.

Congratulations to our Showcase award winners, - Catalina S. for Acting & Megan E. for Film/Video Editing & Animation.

Attn: Rising 9th Graders attending Butler - Do you like singing in the shower, or in the car, or when you’re by yourself, but you have never sung in choir before? Would you like a great way to express yourself and feel part of a close-knit team? It’s not too late to join the award winning Butler choral program for fall of 2021. Please email Mr. Foskey if you’re interested in singing with us and you’d like more information. tim.foskey@cms.k12.nc.us https://sites.google.com/cms.k12.nc.us/butlerfineartsdepartment/performing-arts/choir?authuser=0

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Visit the school website to view all happenings at Crestdale Middle School.

Students of the Month

Christopher D. | Chris has just shown out his 6th grade! What an incredibly talented, respectful and intelligent 6th grader. Chris has more than succeeded virtually. Not only does he attend every class, he knows every expectation and always surpasses it. He is on time for every zoom class, keeps his camera on and it always engaged. Chris is the definition of a hard working musician! He always is prepared for class, knows the material and continues to strive to improve! He is truly a shining star in the music program at Crestdale! Chris is representing the chorus, band and the arts team very well as the 6th grade SOTM!

Greyson T. | Greyson has been a pleasure to have in Art. It’s been fun to watch him develop his artistic skills this semester and I look forward to seeing his next creation. Greyson has a positive attitude and he’s always willing to try new things to improve his work.

Lourdes S. | Lourdes has been a shining light this year in the orchestra program. She always shows up ready to work, with everything prepared, and is always ready to do whatever needs to be done. She excelled during virtual learning and has grown even more since we have been back in class, even though she was still at home remote. I can’t wait to see how much she grows in all of her artistic endeavors as she continues into high school!

ART w/ Ms. Kieffer

6th Grade | 6th Graders have launched into the Toilet Paper Hamburger project and are doing a great job of mastering the construction process. Students first research burger images (or whatever food they choose to do) and study the textures, colors, and forms that will be necessary to duplicate in their food of choice. Next comes the actual building of the buns, burger, lettuce, bacon and cheese and then we’re on to color.

7th Grade | 7th Graders are using cardboard to create personalized masks. This lesson has been so fun and it’s been great to see the students finally get a chance to work with color. Students have focused on three main color schemes this semester (Tertiary, Complementary and Analogous). Artists chose to use particular color schemes to evoke a specific emotion in the work. I can’t wait to see these creative pieces finished!

8th Grade | 8th Graders are also using cardboard to create Non-Objective Sculptures. I’ve been really impressed with the thinking that’s gone into these sculptures. The objective of this project is to create a balanced sculpture. Students could choose to create a Symmetrical or A-Symmetrical sculpture but it had to have visual and structural balance.

ORCHESTRA & GUITAR w/ Mr. Todd

Orchestra: The orchestras are currently finishing up their final projects to be included in the spring showcase! We are very excited to share what the students have been working on this year. The 8th grade has been working on a piece called “Medieval Wars,” the 7th grade has been working on “Irish Suite,” and the 6th grade students have been working on “Majestic March.” Once all the students have submitted their videos we will be moving back into some final techniques to help prepare the students for the next school year. If you have any school instruments, they will need to be returned to the school the week of May 17-21, the week before testing. ALL school instruments need to be returned as we will be working on a new inventory system this summer. This is a great opportunity to think about purchasing or renting your own instrument! Check out our website at www.crestdalestrings.com for more information!

Guitar: The guitarists are finishing up some final skills that should allow each and every student to be able to play just about anything they want to play! The beginner guitarists have now reviewed over all seven of our basic progressions and we will be working on polishing these chords so that the students can work on their own songs and riffs. The intermediate guitarists have learned quite a few extended techniques and will be finishing off some ideas on finger picking and learning about riffs and the standard chord progressions used in songs. Again, all school owned instruments need to be returned to the school the week of May 17-21, the week before testing. ALL school instruments need to be returned as we will be working on a new inventory system this summer.

CHORUS w/ Ms. Gambrell

Our chorus program is ending the year on a fun note! Students have learned how to create their own music through the BandLab program. If you ask your choral student about DAW, MIDI, loops, mix editor, and how to compose music track-by-track, students should be able to show you. Students will be able to show all of the compositions that they have created with varying genres including pop, hip/hop, country, rock and more! Students are also in the process of completing their final music video of the year that will be included in the Fine Arts Showcase in May. Students will use BandLab to record their voices singing! Stay tuned for the final project!

DANCE w / Ms. Adams

Each grade level is ending the year with a final project. Students are researching a cultural dance of their choice, learning the history and the movements, and presenting their work with the class. Each class has a different array of cultures and dances represented in their research making for a great learning experience for all.

Seventh and Eighth Grade have finished up their work on their class dance videos for the Fine Arts Showcase and are excited to show their original choreography.

DRAMA w/ Ms. Costello

We are finishing the school year with awesome performances from all of our students. I am often asked, how do you teach middle schoolers Drama online and in person at the same time? The best way for me to answer that question is to mention that I’m getting back to the basics. I am connecting with students their natural talents of communicating, using eye contact, voices, facial expressions, gestures, movement and body language. It’s fun to create scenes, work with partners and include props, costumes, scenery and other technical elements. Thank you to the friends, classmates and family members for helping out with scene work.

6th graders will be choosing poems to act out and perform. They have the option to work individually or with a partner. They will memorize their lines, perform, record, share and critique themselves as well as each other. Students are learning the foundations of film making combined with theater arts skills. Learning to communicate effectively and collaborate with others is an important life skill. Be sure to ask your child to watch their scene.

7th graders have really ‘knocked my socks off’ with their creative ideas for their TV Commercial projects and by the way they have supported each other in both the physical and virtual classrooms. We are critiquing scenes and students are learning how to give appropriate feedback that helps their classmates build confidence in themselves. I see a nurturing environment growing every single day. We will end the semester with a final variety of performance montage’ of options and our unit on ancient Asian theater.

8th graders are choosing their final projects and partners this week to develop their performance projects. We have worked on creating a respectful and encouraging environment both in the classroom and online as we make our final adjustments with hybrid learning. Students will perform monologues, short scenes, explore film, improv., short plays and other options to develop their performance skills. Students will be using their own props, costumes and scenery. We will supply the stage, audience, recording and feedback.