From the President Terri McGraw

Hello SCAPA friends!

Wow! Can you believe we are going into our final 9 weeks of this school year? Where has the time gone?

We have made it through another production year and what a year it was! We’ve seen Aladdin & Jasmine fly across the stage, a great cast in “The Front Page,” an amazing Dance SCAPA (including the bat), a whimsical tale of “Macbeth,” and who can forget “Hairspray” – where we even had people in the audience dress up with bump-its, go-go boots, thick black glasses and hi-water pants. What a fun year!!!

Two thumbs up to the Chess Team for being the 2011 Kentucky State Middle School Chess Champions!! We are all so proud of our Penguins!!

Congratulations to our Band students who performed in the KMEA Solo and Ensemble Festival. Many walked away with distinguished ratings. Also, Congratulations to our band, orchestra and vocal students who all received distinguished plus ratings in their KMEA Assessments at the Singletary Center.

Speech team went to Bowling Green for the state speech event & came home with the gold! Congratulations to our Penguins for winning the State Speech Team for 2011! The 14th consecutive championship!

UK partnered with SCAPA on a special project to create a hovercraft. The students & teachers really enjoyed the rides; especially the one with Beth Randolph & Mr. Love. The UK professor was very impressed with our teacher skills and the level of excellence our school provides. They are looking into providing this same type of experience for one of our grades next year.

Many thanks to ALL our parents who volunteer & help make this school what it is!!!!

See you at the next FOAS meeting April 19th at 6pm.

Terri McGraw
tmcgraw@milestoneky.com

From Beth Randolph, Bluegrass Principal

Dear SCAPA Family,

I hope everyone had a wonderful and relaxing spring break. The much-deserved week always goes quickly to me, but so will the final few and crucial weeks remaining in this school year. During these weeks, we have the Kentucky Core Content Tests (KCCT) and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). These tests are terrifically important and I know our students will put forth their best efforts to show all that they know. As parents you can help your child tremendously on these assessments. The most significant ways you can do this include:

• making sure your child has ample rest each night,
• providing a nutritious breakfast every morning,
• avoiding appointments of any kind during these days so that students are in school every day, and
• encouraging your child to do his/her best at all times.

Keeping these few simple items foremost in your mind, relieves any added stress on your student. As a school, we are extremely appreciative of all that our SCAPA families do to help the students be successful.

Have a wonderful April!

• Feb 7 Edition
• Feb 21 Edition
• Feb 28 Edition
• Mar 14 Edition
  

From Vicki Ritchie, LHS Principal

Dear Parents and Families,

As we return from our Spring break, our students and staff will need to hit the ground running to finish all of our tasks and projects. Our spring KCCT testing cycle begins the week of April 18. Many of our seniors will also be completing an online COMPASS test during April and May. Other students will be taking AP tests in May. All students must have their Individual Learning Plan (ILP) completed by the end of the year.

In addition to those academic tasks, students will participate in Sophomore Dinner Dance, Junior/Senior Prom, Orchestra on the Lawn, Band and Chorus Concerts, Underclassmen and Senior Awards Programs, and too many other events to list! It is a busy, busy time of year that culminates in our graduation ceremony. Lafayette’s Graduation is set for Saturday, June 4, 2011, at 2:00 pm in Rupp Arena.

Please remember to vote in the SBDM election for parent representation on our school council for next year. The election will be held on April 20 and 21 here at the school.
Vicki Ritchie

Vicki Ritchie

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Art is Not an Elective

Prior to her role as SCAPA Arts Facilitator, Carolyn Waterbury-Tieman was a Parent/Family Life Educator and licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She was the author of The Parents’ Toolbox for The Lexington Family Magazine as well as Pastoral Parenting for the Church of the Resurrection newsletter.

Calendar of Upcoming Events

(Please check the SCAPA Calendar regularly for updates)

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Announcements and Reminders

SCAPA to Participate in World Fit

The SCAPA students are going to have a wonderful opportunity to participate in a program promoting healthy living and exercise called World Fit. One of our direct sponsors is Micki King, a former Olympic diver. The students will also have the good fortune to meet another Olympian, Tyson Gay, on the day of our kick-off rally.

Friends of the Arts School (FOAS) Meetings

Mark you calendars for the meeting dates in 2010-11

All FOAS Meetings will be held in Bluegrass SCAPA, Room 146 at 6:00pm on these dates:

• February 15
  
• March 15
  
• April 19
  
• May 17

Meeting Minutes

• January 2011
• November 2010
• October 2010
• September 2010
• August, 2010
• July, 2010
• June, 2010
• May 2010 (TBP)
• April 2010 (TBP)
• March 2010
• February 2010
• January 2010
• December 2009
• November 2009
• October 2009
• September 2009
• August 2009
• June 2009
• May 2009
• April 2009

SBDM Meeting Minutes

• September 2009

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Recent Events

Bluegrass SCAPA Band Assessment Results

The band received an overall rating of Distinguished plus at KMEA assessment. The SCAPA Middle School band performed their assessment pieces at the school board meeting Monday, March 28th, at 6:00 p.m. Congratulations to Ms. Robin Barker and all the band majors and minors!

Bluegrass SCAPA Orchestra Assessment Results

The SCAPA Orchestra received an over-all Distinguished Plus rating. They performed well and conducted themselves in a manner that represented SCAPA well. Congratulations to Ms. Nancy Campbell and all the string majors and minors!

Alex Alarcon Fabre Visits High School Students

The junior arts and humanities students and high school piano majors had a very special visitor on March 1st. Alex Alarcon Fabre, a young and talented pianist originally from Ecuador, performed a program of works by Ecuadorian composers of the twentieth century. He is a graduate of the Conservatorio Superior Nacional de Musica de Quito and the Universidad Tecnica De Manabi.

Alarcon has studied piano with Hugo Gianinni (Chile), Angela Rouchanian (Armenia) and Berta Brito (Ecuador); and chamber music and Ecuatorian repertoire with one of the most important composers of his country, Maestro Gerardo Guevara Viteri.

He keeps an intense artistic schedule as a solo recitalist and a chamber music interpreter, and he adds to his credits a significant number of vocal recitals accompanying some of the most upcoming vocalists of Ecuador. Alarcon has played in the most prestigious concert halls around his country, and has participated in many national and international music festivals.

His collaborations include working with pianists Boris Cepeda and Eduardo Florencia in recording the piano works of composer Juan Pablo Munoz Sanz. He also recorded works by Luis Humberto Salgado with the Symphonic Ensemble Quito 6 as well as piano music by composers from Ecuador up to 1930. His interest in interpreting these composers has allowed him to collaborate with Ecuadorian musicologists, tracing the importance of the composers' lives and works.

While in Lexington Alex performed at the Carrick Theatre in the Mitchell Fine Arts Building at Transylvania. The program was sponsored by the Partners of the Americas and the Department of Culture, U.S.A. State Department.

State Science Fair Participants

On April 2nd, two SCAPA students, Kara Bethel and Stephanie Stumbur, participated in the state science fair at Eastern Kentucky University. Stephanie placed 2nd place in the Behavioral Sciences category, which is a significant achievement. Congratulations to Kara and Stephanie for making it to the state level!

A Good Book Can Make a World of Difference

By Eva Aldridge (7th/8th Grade Language Arts Teacher)

Everyday a book makes a difference in a child’s life. Sometimes one book can influence a child to become a lifelong reader. Sometimes just one book can direct them toward a future career. And sometimes there is a book that makes a child stop and think about how they could improve their world. As a language arts teacher, I have witnessed many transformations in my student’s reading habits, and these were usually the result of one particular book which really inspired them to take a different look at themselves or their world. So, when I received an email about a writing contest where students were asked to write about a book that had made a difference in their life, I decided this was a great opportunity for my students to connect their reading to a real-world writing experience.

This past December, each of my seventh and eighth grade students entered a writing contest called “Letters About Literature” sponsored by the Library of Congress and Target. Students participated in the complete writing process. They brainstormed their ideas as a class, small groups, and individuals. They chose a book to write about. They planned their pieces. They reviewed the format of a friendly letter. Rough drafts were written, and then reviewed by their peers and teacher. Students revised their pieces and made them “contest worthy” paying attention to the rules of the contest, and the overall presentation of their final product. All of my students worked diligently improving their work in the process. Finally, in late December, I mailed our entries. Since then, my students have been patiently waiting for the results.

Last Sunday, I received an email that twelve of my seventh and eighth grade students made it to round three of the contest. This was quite an accomplishment since more than 69,000 students entered nationwide. Of those, only 10% made it to round three which is state-level. Apparently it will be May before we have the state and national winners, but I wanted to share with our SCAPA families, the names of the following students whose letters took them all the way to state competition. Congratulations to…

8th Grade Students

• Taylor Bagley
  
• Abby Brockman
  
• Shelby Burgess
  
• Ca’Layci Coffey
  
• Hunter England
  
• Maddie Farrer
  
• Jonathan Griggs
  
• Kate Heinonen

7th Grade Students

• Kara Bethel
  
• Scott DiMeo
  
• Christine Partington
• Sydney Prince

In the future, their letters will be posted on the SCAPA website. I suggest you take the time to see how just one book can impact a child’s life and maybe, even your own!

SCAPA Battle of the Books

The SCAPA Battle of the Books team did their very best on Monday, March 28th, against two other school teams, but came up short and were eliminated. Captain Emma Mathews, Katrin Flores, and Casey Trowel, along with nine other back-up members, all read the fifteen assigned texts and had practiced diligently with electronic buzzers during lunchtime meetings for months. We hope that it was a learning experience and fun regardless of the outcome.

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SCAPA in the Community

SCAPA in the Community

SCAPA Students Perform in Actors’ Guild Production

The following students appear in Actors’ Guild’s Production of “A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant” this weekend:

Jackson Becker – 4th grade ballet major
Scott DiMeo – 7th grade drama major

Show times are Friday, April 15th at 8pm; Saturday, April 16th at 8pm; and Sunday, April 17th at 2pm. The theatre is located in the South Elkhorn Center, behind Ramsey’s, at 4383 Harrodsburg Road just beyond Man ‘O’ War.

SCAPA Spotlights

This section is reserved for recognizing accomplishments by SCAPA students, parents, faculty and staff. Please send arts accomplishments to Carolyn Waterbury-Tieman (carolyn.tieman@fayette.kyschools.us). Space limitations will determine how many we can include in any given month.

SCAPA Students Selected for Honors Orchestra Congratulations to the following students who were selected for the FCPS Middle School Honors Orchestra: Madison Jones, Concert Master Sarah Jeoung, 4th chair Violin I Bailey Yates, 9th chair Violin I Ella Cunningham, 4th chair Violin II Abbie Higgins, 7th chair Violin II (Over 100 violins auditioned and only 44 were selected) Spencer Burt, 13th chair Viola Laura Briggs, Viola alternate Elizabeth Robbins, 6th chair Cello Alexia Umberger, 12th chair Cello Monica Schmocker, 13th chair Cello SCAPA Student Wins Art Contest CONGRATULATIONS to Lafayette SCAPA student Elaine Barkley for being the winner of the 2011 Sister Cities High School Art Contest sponsored by Central Bank. Elaine will receive her award of $250 on Friday, March 18th at a reception to kick-off the exhibition of all entries at the John G. Irvin Gallery at Central Bank. Elaine’s art teacher, Connie Tucker, will also receive $250 to be used toward other class projects. The exhibit opens March 18th. All entries will be part of the exhibit which will run until April 8th. The John G. Irvin Gallery is located inside Central Bank, 300 W. Vine St. Following the local exhibition, Elaine’s artwork will be entered in the worldwide Sister Cities International competition. Ten finalists will be selected from the total entries from around the world. These 10 pieces will be displayed at the Sister Cities International Conference in Riverside, Ca. They will then go on an international tour to select Sister City locations. From the 10 winning works, one US artist and one international artist will be selected as overall winners. The two overall winners will receive $1,000. Judging will take place in late May, and winners and finalists will be announced in early June. Good luck, Elaine! SCAPA Speech Team Wins 14th Consecutive State Speech Title The SCAPA Speech Team did remarkably well at the Kentucky High School Speech League Junior State Speech Tournament. With a total of 33 entries, the maximum allowed, SCAPA speech students began competing on Friday afternoon, March 18th in their quest to bring home the school’s 14th consecutive state speech title. The students were remarkably focused and determined to be crowned champions while at the tournament this year, since last year they were denied this honor and recognition in Bowling Green. After the first day of competition, the top 18 students in each category were determined and sent on to the semi-final round set for Saturday morning. The speech team tied a previous best record of 32 of our 33 students advancing to the semi-final round. From those semi-finalists, eighteen students broke into the final round of competition. Finals consists of the top six students in each category. At this level of competition, the pressure and intensity is unbelievable, but our students did extremely well, pulling in enough points over the two-day tournament to be declared the STATE CHAMPIONS once again. State Speech Results Congratulations to the whole team and to our coaches, Ms. Stayton and Ms. Katie Donohue, former SCAPA student and speech team member. Their dedication and work with the students propelled our team to a wonderful victory. Congratulations to all! School Attendance Challenge Congratulations to our SCAPA Lafayette vocalists for winning the school attendance challenge at this year’s Alltech Vocal Scholarship Competition held at UK on February 5, 2011. With the highest attendance, SCAPA has won a $500 scholarship toward their Music Program!!!!! SCAPA Students Place First in Macauley Chamber Music Competition Two groups of Lexington high school students dominated the 16th annual Macauley Chamber Music Competition, hosted by the University of Louisville’s School of Music. First place went to the Scoppio Rocca string quartet: Jonathan Karp and Heeju Son, violins (both from SCAPA Lafayette); Aaron Karp, viola, (Paul Laurence Dunbar); and Jerram John, cello, (home-schooled). Runner-up was the JAJA Noir string quartet: Jessie Zhu, violin (Henry Clay); Jessie Li, violin (Paul Laurence Dunbar); Allie Wood, viola (Bryan Station); and Alex DeMoll, cello (SCAPA Lafayette). SCAPA STUDENTS TO REPRESENT KENTUCKY IN MUSIC FOR ALL’S 2011 HONOR ORCHESTRA OF AMERICA Nicholas Blackburn, Darcy Cassidy, Benjamin Healy, Jonathan Karp, Julia Mead, Heeju Sun, and Jacob Yates at SCAPA/Lafayette High School, have been selected by Music for All to perform in one of the nation’s finest honor ensembles, the 2011 Honor Orchestra of America. The seven were selected from numerous applicants from across the nation for membership in this prestigious honor ensemble. All are members of the Lafayette Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Jennifer Grice and Katy Van Fleet. The Honor Orchestra of America will perform in concert Friday and Saturday nights, March 18-19, 7 p.m. at Hilbert Circle Theatre in Indianapolis, Indiana. The orchestra is performing shared concerts with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, as a part of its Subscription Series. The 2011 Honor Orchestra will perform the Finale from Mahler's Symphony No. 1 "Titan" as well as The Fiddle Concerto, Movement 3, by Mark O'Connor, featuring Mr. O'Connor as soloist. The Honor Band of America includes SCAPA's Meredith Burns and J. Clay Gonzalez. The band students will perform at 8 p.m. March 19 at Clowes Memorial Hall on the campus of Butler University, conducted by Richard Clary of the Florida State University Wind Orchestra. Music for All is one of the nation’s largest and most influential organizations in support of active music-making. Its programs include 25-plus annual events, including the Music for All National Festival, the Music for All Summer Symposium, the Bands of America Grand National marching band championships and regional marching band championships across the country. Learn more at www.musicforall.org/.

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Academic News

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Arts News

BG Band

• Band News
  

BG Dance

BG SCAPA Strings

This Thursday, March 3, we will have after school rehearsal from 4:00 to 5:00 with guest conductor Richard Auldon Clark, director of orchestral studies at Butler University and the Manhattan Chamber Orchestra. He also conducted the All State Commonwealth Orchestra at KMEA last month.

Our KMEA preview concert is on Monday, March 14 at 6:00 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room. This is a required performance. We will perform our KMEA Assessment Festival Music, Prelude from Holberg’s Suite by Edvard Grieg, Lullaby by William Hofeldt and Dreams of a Midsummer Night by Richard Meyer. Our assessment event will be on Thursday, March 14 at the Singletary Center for the Arts.

Bluegrass Vocal

LHS Orchestra

• Lafayette Orchestra News

LHS Band

• Lafayette Band News

LHS Vocal

• LHS Vocal Newsletters
  

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Club and Team News

Bluegrass

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Alumni News

Alumni! We Want To Know What You Are Doing!

We would like to make plaques to hang outside each of the arts rooms with the names of graduates and what they are doing professionally. Mr. Love has one on the wall just outside his door. Every year he takes his new 4th graders out in the hall, reads the names of past students and what they are doing, and tells the current students that if they dedicate themselves to their work, someday their name will be on the plaque. This is a great motivator! We want every arts teacher to have the opportunity to do the same thing. Please send me your name, year you graduated, major and what you are doing professionally so that we can expand and maintain this tradition. My address is carolyn.tieman@fayette.kyschools.us. We are looking forward to hearing from you and celebrating your success.

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Arts Roundtable

The Arts Roundtable is a place where we can share valuable information about the essential role of the arts in our lives and the lives of our children. (Please submit items to Carolyn Waterbury-Tieman, carolyn.tieman@fayette.kyschools.us, by the 20th of each month.)

This story first appeared in The Washington Post.
The Violinist. . .
Something To Think About . . .

THE SITUATION

In Washington, DC, at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $200 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

• In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
• If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
• Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
  

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Submit information to Carolyn Waterbury-Tieman (carolyn.tieman@fayette.kyschools.us)

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Arts Bookbag

The Arts Bookbag is a place where we can recommend books about the arts that we have found to be informative and inspiring. (Please submit titles to Carolyn Waterbury-Tieman, carolyn.tieman@fayette.kyschools.us, by the 20th of each month.)

• My Reading Life by Pat Conroy
• My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok
• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. Daniel Pink, 2009
• Keepers of the Children. Laura M. Ramirez, 2004
• The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life. Twyla Tharp. Simon & Schuster, 2005.
• The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
• Cracking Creativity: The Secrets of Creative Genius by Michael Michalko
• A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. Daniel H. Pink. (2005, 2006). Riverhead Books, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014.
• The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything. Ken Robinson. (2009). Viking, 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014.
• Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative, Ken Robinson, Capstone, 2001
  
• 5 Minds for the Future, Howard Gardner, Harvard Business School Press, 2009
  
• Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm Gladwell, Back Bay Books, 2007
  
• Outliers: The Story of Success, Malcolm Gladwell, Little, Brown & Company, 2008

Children

• The Art Lesson by Tomie DePaola
  
• Little Smudge by L. LeNeouanic
  

SCAPA FUNdraising Opportunities

Continuous SCAPA FUNdraisers

There are 3 ways that you can financially support SCAPA all year long with minimal effort!

• When you shop at Amazon.com, use the icon on the front page of the FOAS website, www.friends-scapa.org, and SCAPA gets money for every order you make!
• Purchase a SCAPA Kroger card from Miranda Hines, 351-4931, mhines@email.uky.edu. Use your SCAPA Kroger card!
• Put a sandwich-sized baggy on your refrigerator door. Clip Box Tops for Education and put them in the bag. Turn your bag of Box Tops into your child’s homeroom each month!

Remember that when you contribute to SCAPA it benefits every student, grades 4-12, in every arts area. You can make a difference!

Box Tops For Education

General Mills Corporation, sponsor of the Box Tops For Education program, has been involved in giving to educational programs since 1996. Over the past 13 years, participating schools have earned over $300 million dollars in funding. The Box Tops program is a simple way for our school to receive money without having to write grants, sell products, work hours, or buy things we don’t want or need. As a parent, relative, or friend of SCAPA, all you have to do is clip the “Official Box Top Coupon” off of the products you already buy and use. A complete list of these products can be found at boxtops4education.com. After clipping, send the box tops to school with your student. Each homeroom teacher has a container in their classroom for collection. Each month, the box tops are collected and counted, with the top collecting homeroom earning a prize. Come on SCAPA Penguins, keep clipping and collecting those box tops. Let’s make this an awesome box tops year.

Volunteer Opportunities

Please download a copy for each of the FCPS approved volunteers in your family. Completed forms may be turned in to Ms. Barbara Talbert at the front office of Bluegrass SCAPA. Thank you so much for your commitment to making SCAPA great!

• Bluegrass Volunteer Form
• LHS Volunteer Form

Please be aware that a records check is required in order to participate in volunteer activities in the Fayette County School system.

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FOAS Board Officers and Representatives

• Officers and Representatives

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