Here’s what has been going on in our classrooms during the month of March and what is coming up in April!
Mrs. Blanchard – RHS
- In Concert Choir the students have been preparing for the spring concert. We are working on a piece in Spanish, Yo Le Canto, a jazz arrangement of Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye, and Aerosmith’s hit Dream On. The concert is on May 4, and the Select Choir will be featured as well.
Mr. Brigante – UMS
- The UMS Spring Band concert was held on March 30th. It was an amazing evening of student talent. Ensembles includes Jazz Band, Rock Band, Piano, Saxophone Quartet, Guitars, Flute, and the entire Concert Band. Musical selections were varied and showcased the many talents of our UMS music students!
Ms. Cafiero – RHS
- Fitness: Students have been learning about basic anatomy and physiology, digestion, absorption, and common digestive disorders. The class is currently learning about counting calories, how to read food labels, the importance of ingredient lists, and examining their own food intake through diet analysis.
- Foods: Students completed sections on the nutritional value, cooking principles, and uses of bread products, fruits, and vegetables. Additionally, each of these sections were comprised of a practical section. The class is currently working on the different variations of how you can cook meat and meat products.
Mrs. Grillo – RHS
- Basic Drawing and Design 1 has just finished their stipple projects, focusing on accuracy and use of value. Now that students have had a few opportunities to produce work using some of the guiding elements of art, they will be focusing on space and form through two-point perspective. Students will be combining linear and atmospheric perspective with Surrealism to create imaginative spaces using an umbrella theme “Doors and Portals.” This project will continue to reinforce foundational techniques of shading while critically thinking about approaching a space. This will be a positive challenge for students to transition from relying on references for information to relying on two-point perspective techniques to create information.
- Basic Drawing and Design 2 is right in the middle of their portrait unit. Students have learned facial proportions and for the last few months, have been practicing different features in their sketchbooks and have been performing different exercises focusing on the face. Students drew self-portraits in the mirror, gesture portraits of each other in a variety of mediums, and are now conducting realistic charcoal self-portraits on 18×24 cardboard panels that were loosely painted white.
- Photography 2 students are creating two works using David Hockney’s photomontages as their primary inspiration. Currently, students are gridding and distorting portraits to create renditions of the digital Hockney photomontages using various Photoshop techniques. Once complete, students will be creating a physical collage of an outdoor scene using illustration board, prints, and rubber cement. Students will be arranging, cutting and gluing the photographs together. They will be focusing on space, arrangement, and craftsmanship and will conduct a compare and contrast critique regarding the benefits and limitations of each type of collage technique.
- With only 3 pieces left, AP Studio Art students are preparing their portfolios for the final May deadline. Students are photographing work, matting Quality pieces, and planning and executing their final 3 pieces to complete their concentration. As they begin to finalize their work, they will start to look at artist websites for inspiration to plan the design for their own website, complete with breadth, concentration, and sketchbook works.
Mr. Kinne – RHS
- RHS Band and Choir Concert May 4th! The RHS Concert Band & Wind Ensemble large ensemble classes and small lesson groups have been digging into new works for our Spring Concert. We have seemed to stumble on to a nature/weather theme serendipitously! If I wrote everything that is going on this would be 3-5 pages long so I will highlight a new piece each month over the next few months. First up was – Lightning Field by Charles Mackey. Second highlight will be Zillion Nickels by Samuel Hazo. Hazo is a favorite composer of many HS band programs these days. Hazo’s works offer complex harmonies that are simple to execute and provide a unique pallet for the blending’s of timbres and textures. In a juxtaposition to conventional concert band works the winds and brass provide color almost exclusively and the percussion provided melodic movement and rhythmic interest. This work was inspired by the Atlantic Ocean off of the Jersey shore and gets it title from Mr. Hazo’s father once commenting that, “The sea looks like a Zillion Nickels today…”
- AP Music Theory has started our 4-part choral project where our students will compose their own polyphonic choral in the style of the 18th century composers. They will then analyze, compress, alter and arrange the work for a variety of ensembles to be performed live in real time. We are also reviewing for the AP test in early May.
Ms. Klubeck – UMS
- Exciting things are happening at Union this month! Students in Ms. Klubeck’s art classes have been celebrating Youth Art Month. YAM is a celebration of the visual arts for grades K-12, with thousands of schools in America participating in school and community art exhibitions. Select students from Ms. Klubeck’s art classes had their artwork displayed in the Bergen County show. At the reception, students received certificates and Union School was honored by the Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders for participating. Congratulations to all!
Mr. Mett – RHS
- The TV Production 1 classes have completed showing off their editing in skills in Final Cut Pro by editing their Movie Trailer The students were challenged to create a new trailer for a movie of their choice, but one that creates a new plot for the movie within a new genre. Currently the classes are creating a series of short productions that explore video techniques including stop action photography, cloning and chroma key.
- The TV2: Studio Workshop classes have completed their Movie Recreation projects where, in small groups, they reverse-engineered the storyboard for a scene of a movie. They then needed to recreate that scene, angle for angle, placing particular emphasis on cinematography, audio and lighting. The classes are also continuing to make progress on their Short Film During this quarter, the students completed writing the script as well as produced the opening title sequences for their short films.
- The TV 3: Portfolio Development class closed out Q3 with the production of a self-assigned projects that help to round out their portfolios. The students were each allowed to design a project through the creation of a treatment that defined a project overview, project goals, a production schedule, and technical and media requirement assessments. Sample projects from the class include: a music video, a title sequence, skits, PSAs and a short film.