At CASA, we value the arts as an essential subject for students to achieve a well-rounded education. Students at CASA have access to 5 different arts programs: Dance, Band, Chorus, Visual Arts & Media Arts. For our 2021 virtual showcase, eighth grade dancers learned a fun tap routine at home. This dance proves that dance is for everyone! You don't need expensive shoes or a dance studio to become a great dancer. I hope you enjoy our tap routine to "Cups", a song from the hit movie, Pitch Perfect. Through tap, students learned rhythm & coordination, as well as dance history and understanding tap as an American style of dance that was created from Irish clogging and African percussive dances in the Five Points neighborhood of NYC!

Performers: Jheyliss Aracena, Karol Arias, Edeling Ferreira, Keilyn Gordillo, Lesley Muy, Jasmine Nunez, Valerey Pepin Valerio, Helen Quichimbo-Puma, Eriana Rodriguez, Kelvin Rodriguez, Marlene Meyo-Hernandez

College Point Collaborative Middle School prides itself on its integration of arts disciplines into all core content curriculum areas, allowing our students to explore, engage in, and respond critically to the visual, expressive, creative and fine arts. We believe that this exposure and integration of the arts into our curriculum expands our learners' knowledge and enables our children to become well rounded citizens who appreciate, and can express themselves in multiple ways.

I selected this monologue from Sam Shepard's Buried Child because it provides a considerable challenge in terms of the actor's given circumstances and shifts in tactics. It's a tricky speech to navigate, and it really forces the performer to submerge themselves in the imagined scene.

For many of my sixth grade students, this performance was the first lengthy speech they've ever endeavored to perform. Each student could choose from three different monologues, this being the "hardest" of the three. Agatha challenged herself and succeeded. I feel she gained a tremendous amount of confidence from this experience.

Performer: Agatha Celleri

These two students have had theater for three years. Most students in my classes performed excerpts from this short play, The Water Gun Song. I knew these children could do more. When our schedule changed from blended to remote, I saw these students one more period/week and I knew that was my opportunity to have them perform the entire thing.

The play itself was part of materials made available to us in honor of Juneteenth. This play and the others has helped students explore their own thought and experiences in relation to people who are different than them. Working with this play gave me an opportunity to promote empathy and dialogue toward a better understanding of one another.

Performers: Peyton Jean-Jacques, Annalise Mc glashan

Additional Contributors: Idris Goodwin (author)