Fine Arts Monthly Medley (FAMM)

Every year, Music in Our Schools Month provides opportunities for students and teachers alike to explore all the ways that music not only enriches classroom curriculum. but also bridges generational and cultural gaps. This year's theme "United Through Music" invites classes to engage with a variety of musical styles and tastes.

Here is a brief breakdown of an activity created for this month by NAfME Member, Elizabeth Caldwell:

"This year the theme for Music in Our Schools Month® (MIOSM®) is 'United Through Music.' I have been doing a “musical March madness”-style song bracket, where students listen to different songs each day and vote on their favorites, for several years now, and for the last several years I’ve tried to tie the songs into the annual theme NAfME chooses. To connect with this year’s theme, I’ve decided to choose songs that are a fusion of two or more genres or musical styles. As I have done the last few years, I’m going to be setting up Google slides files with the songs for each day embedded in the slides so that classes can vote in their homerooms."

For more information, visit the NAfME website by following the link below:

https://nafme.org/blog/music-in-our-schools-month-2025-united-through-music-song-bracket/

Our director of Fine and Performing Arts/OMA, Dr. Joan Ashcraft, has been selected as the 2025 honoree of the University of Arizona's Alumni of the Year for the College of Fine Arts!

"Joan Ashcraft serves as director of fine and performing arts for Tucson Unified School District, where she oversees arts educators and teaching artists, provides training and mentoring, supervises multicultural resources, provides musical instruments for students and administers the Arizona Seal of Arts Proficiency for qualified high school seniors. She is the co-creator and director of Opening Minds through the Arts (OMA), recognized nationally for its integration research and student achievement results. The model has been featured in several national publications, and OMA schools have been observed by numerous institutions as well as visiting educators from China."

Follow the link below to discover more about Dr. Ashcraft's accomplishments:

Joan Ashcraft | Arizona Alumni

On February 11th, 80 students from ten middle schools across Tucson Unified School District came together learn, rehearse, and put on a concert all in one single day. To make it into the honor band, students are given short excerpts of music and a few scales in which they need to prepare. Then, the student will record themselves and submit their recordings to be judged and scored. This year‘s honor band was a huge success and featured music from composers Richard Saucedo, Brian Balmages, Carol Brittin Chambers, and Katy Perry. We are honored to be working with our clinician, Professor Chad Shoopman of The University of Arizona and the Pride of Arizona Marching Band! Thank you, students, teachers, parents, and TUSD administrators for all your support to put on this wonderful event!

- Clifton Weston, Director of Bands - Collier Elementary School Band, Magee Middle School

Congratulations to the Gridley Middle School Symphonic Band! At the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association (ABODA) Area Music Festival on February 26th, their fantastic performance earned a rating of Superior with Distinction, the highest rating possible. Under the direction of Phillip Switzer, the band's hard work and dedication made the school and entire district very proud.

- Phillip Switzer, Band Director - Gridley Middle School

The Native American Flute has been a presence at Lawrence School since 2017. Music teachers at Lawrence have had the opportunity to learn the Native Flute along with the students. I learned the Native Flute during the pandemic, then shared the lessons with the students over zoom. Our principal, Dr. Zulema Stanbrook, keeps her Native Flute at her desk at our school. I have discovered that the Native Flute being 25 ¼ inches, and Keyed in F# minor has notes that are similar to French horn parts with some notes raised a half step and the given key ignored.

Students at Lawrence have achieved much success playing traditional Native American songs and traditional melodic songs like "America the Beautiful" and "Amazing Grace" or fun melodies like Sponge Bob SquarePants. We have worked with full orchestration arrangements that include horn parts with the violins and cellos. It is best to transcribe the music to fit in with other instruments. However, range and softer volume can be a consideration. In the Middle School, Native Flute seems to work best with other Native Flutes, with guitars, or as a solo instrument. We enjoy playing mini-concerts outside, in the office, and in the cafeteria whenever a song is ready to share. It is said that the Native Flute is an extension of your breath, your heart, your spirit. I have found the sound of the Native Flute to be very satisfying and soothing. The Native Flute sound works well in our hallways at Lawrence, bringing students out of their classrooms in curiosity. The halls reinforce the warmth of the sound wrapping the player and any listeners in a warm blanket of sound and echoes. Many teachers will open their doors to enjoy the music!

- Teresa Christy, Band and Orchestra Teacher - Lawrence Middle School

Sahuaro is planning two more shows this spring with our two performance classes. Intermediate Theatre will present Zombie!, a hilarious collection of scenes about the zombie apocalypse, as well as zombies just trying to fit into human society and be understood. This show is appropriate for all ages and will leave everyone laughing! Advanced Theatre will present The Crucible and will offer student matinees, along with evening performances. Teachers bringing their students to the matinees should contact Christopher Younggren for reservations. Please also contact Mr. Younggren for any further information.

The Crucible will have evenings performances on April 10th-12th at 7:00pm, with student matinees April 10th-11th, and Zombie! will have evening performances on April 16th-17th.

- Christopher Younggren, Theatre Arts Director, Sahuaro High School

Carol and Leanne will guide you through simple clay techniques to create your own mask inspired by Mardi-Gras and other contemporary style masks, including animals.

This will be a two-part PD:

• Wednesday, March 5th: 2:30- 4:00pm
• Wednesday April 2nd 2:30-4:00pm.

We will create the masks the first day, let dry, and Leanne will fire them, and then Part 2, we will decorate your masks.

- Leanne C. Miller, Curator of Art and Artifacts

Oyama came by the OMAgination studio February 26th and had a private PD with Carol and Leanne. They received lessons and got to complete their own version of one of these wonderful Huichol tribe, Mexican Yarn paintings.

To book your private class next semester contact, leanne.miller@tusd1.org.

Mandatory PLD's March 26th, 2025:

Now, many of the PLD's are pre-enrolled, such as Visual Arts. These are all day, and this one will be in the OMAgination Studio at 2025 E Winsett. When the time comes, you will receive an email indicating you have been added to the list mandatorily from TNL.

For OMA Visual Arts, contact hillary.douglas@tusd1.org