PRIDE News
Murray Avenue School Newsletter 5-21-24
Music Department Concerts and Performances
May has been a busy month for our Music Department and our students. We appreciate the support for our music programs from our families and the dedication of our staff and students. Take a look a some of their most recent performances and opportunities.
MA Choral Concert
Last Monday, 258 Murray Avenue singers got on stage and delivered an absolutely beautiful and expressive Spring Concert. They sang music ranging from artists like The Beatles and Whitney Houston to choral pieces composed by the Juilliard-educated and Grammy Award-winning composer, Eric Whitacre. We could not be prouder of our Murray Avenue singers. Thank you, Mr. Weisblatt!
LionVoice Happenings
LionVoice traveled to the AcaTamaJam a Cappella competition at Tamanend Middle School and absolutely CRUSHED IT! They earned an overall score of 9.5/10 from the judges! This was an unforgettable experience for our singers!
LionVoice got to sing with and perform for Temple University's multi award-winning a cappella group, OwlCappella! The LionVoicers were left inspired and even more dedicated to their craft after this incredible experience!
LionVoice had the wonderful opportunity to workshop with Emmy Award-winning music producer, Shams Ahmed! Mr. Ahmed was extremely impressed with LionVoice's talent and helped them grow their artistry and expression in their performances!
MA Concert Bands
Two weeks ago our talented Murray Avenue Bands took the stage for their Spring Concert. The 6th Grade Band literally made tacos rain from the skies during their performance of “It's Raining Tacos.” The Jazz Band had everyone's toes tapping to their big band arrangement of “Jericho.” And the 7th and 8th Grade Band performed music from The Lion King as well as two exciting arrangements by Brian Balmages and Randall Standridge. All 150 instrumentalists demonstrated exceptional skill and dedication in their performances. We wish them luck as they take their music 'on the road' this Friday at the High Note Music Festival.
Using Technology to Grow Our Musicians
MA Orchestra Performances
The Murray Avenue School orchestras performed their spring concert at the beginning of the month. They performed fun and challenging pieces like “Mechanical Monsters,” “Wipe Out,” “Hyperdrive,” “Aliens In The Attic” and “Gamelan.” Chamber strings also played “Nothing You Can Take From Me” from the Hunger Games prequel, The Ballad Of Songbirds and Snakes. This featured a vocalist and several string solos.
Chamber Strings performed at The String Orchestra Festival Adjudication at Upper Dublin High school. They were able to perform for a panel of judges and get feedback from them. One of the adjudicators will be coming in to work with chamber strings this Thursday in order to prepare us for The Festivals of Music competition May 24th.
No Place for Hate Activity - Words Matter
This week we completed our third No Place for Hate activity for the 23-24 school year. No Place for Hate activities support a positive school climate and proactively address climate issues through education. These activities are school-wide and are designed to celebrate diversity, understand differences, and challenge bias and bullying. Our first activity was Breaking Bread Together, where students learned about bread traditions around the world and in our community. Our second activity was a visit from Mr. Mickey Rowe who shared his journey to Broadway as a legally-blind and autistic person. His inspirational story was shared to highlight how our differences are our strengths.
Principals and counselors attended social studies classes to deliver Words Matter lessons on language in grades 6, 7, and 8. Students were asked to examine different types of language and evaluate the impact of language on different groups and the impact on the school community. Students learned about the historical context related to some language and symbols. Students were encouraged to report inappropriate use of language and options were discussed for responding to language they may encounter.
Animal Adventures Advisory Club Visit from Elmwood Park Zoo
On Friday, May 17th, our "Animal Adventures" Advisory Club had a special visit from the Elmwood Park Zoo, "Zoo on Wheels" Education Program. The educator from the zoo brought a tortoise, a python and a chinchilla for the group to learn about and view. Our students were so excited to see live animals and ask our visitor questions about how they, too, could work with animals in the future! Thank you Mrs. Jolly for this great opportunity for our students!
MA PTA Pickleball / Ping Pong Social
5/29 @3pm
$5 per person
Sign up by 5/22:
World Language Happenings
French 1
French 1 students recently created digital comic strips to demonstrate their understanding of regular -er verb conjugations. Students were given a script to follow for each panel of the comic strip in order to also demonstrate use of vocabulary that we have learned over the course of the year. They practiced proper verb conjugations, subject-verb agreement and also gender and number agreement with nouns and articles.
French 2
French 2 students recently featured their favorite celebrities in a slideshow describing clothing and accessories. Students found pictures, labeled the clothing and accessory items and then worked on their French writing skills by writing short paragraphs to describe the colors of each item. This helped them to demonstrate their understanding of vocabulary, verb conjugations and noun-adjective agreement with both gender and number. Students also had to make a recording to demonstrate proficiency in speaking.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month
Counselors' Corner
May is Mental Health Month. We are shining a light on the importance of mental health with our students and staff at Murray Avenue by creating a week of self-care challenges. Announcements will be made each morning to raise awareness. The counselors also posted inspiring quotes in the hallway to inspire students and staff.
The world is constantly changing – for better or for worse – and it can be overwhelming to deal with everything going on around you. While society is getting more comfortable discussing mental health, it can still be hard to know “Where to Start” when it comes to taking care of your own well-being.
This May, Mental Health America will help you:
LEARN how modern life affects mental health with new resources to navigate our changing world.
ACT by building your coping toolbox so you can manage stress, difficult emotions, and challenging situations.
ADVOCATE to improve mental health for yourself, your friends and family, and your community.
Download your Mental Health Month toolkit here https://www.mhanational.org/mental-health-month.
Information from the MA PTA
Upcoming Events and Activities
Blue/Gold Day - 5/22 - If you are a parent/guardian interested in volunteering, please sign up using the following link. Clearances are required.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4CABA923AAFA7-49563574-blue#/
Pickleball/Ping Pong Social - 5/29 - Any 6th, 7th, & 8th students wishing to attend, please register. If you have a preferred teammate, make sure they sign up as well: https://murray-ave-pickleball.cheddarup.com/
8th Grade Dance - 5/31 - Please consider donating a snack or drink to this annual event: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4CABA923AAFA7-49574822-8thgrade#/
8th Grade Brunch - 6/12 - Would you like to join other 8th graders and their families for a breakfast buffet following promotion? Tickets are selling quickly, you must purchase in advance for this gathering: https://murray-ave-8thgrbrunch.cheddarup.com/
Follow Us on Social Media
Follow us to keep up with our latest library events and maker projects!
Website: www.lmtsd.org
Location: 2551 Murray Avenue, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
Phone: 215-938-0230
Twitter: @LMTSD_MAS