News from our Secondary Principal, Katherine Banner
Student Spotlight
In March, one of our 11th grade students Jonah Delisi will be representing GEMS American Academy in the Association for Music in International Schools’ World Honor Choir. This is the third consecutive year that GAA has had students chosen for the World Honor Choir, and hopefully the tradition will continue for many years to come! Under the direction of Ms. Meininger, Jonah is in Chamber Choir, The Advanced High School Choir at Gems American Academy.
In March, one of our 11th grade students Jonah Delisi will be representing GEMS American Academy in the Association for Music in International Schools’ World Honor Choir. This is the third consecutive year that GAA has had students chosen for the World Honor Choir, and hopefully the tradition will continue for many years to come! Under the direction of Ms. Meininger, Jonah is in Chamber Choir, The Advanced High School Choir at Gems American Academy.
In the fall, thousands of international high school students from all over the world sent in recorded auditions to be part of this prestigious group. Panelists listened to the auditions and blindly rated the students based on their recording. The top students were chosen.
Students learn the difficult choral music prior to going, including 2 brand new compositions that the choir will be premiering. Once at the festival, the students come together and intensively rehearse for 4 days, conducted by a prestigious director. This year, they are being conducted by Dr. Nicole Lamartine. At the conclusion of their 4 days of rehearsing, the students put on a Gala concert that will be streamed live worldwide.
All high school singers that are a member of a choir at GEMS have the opportunity to audition for this honor choir, the next possibility to audition will be in the fall of 2017. Interested students will be given materials to prepare over the summer. More information can be found at www.amis-online.org
Grade 6 Art Showcase
The Secondary Arts Department presented the first of 4 Grade 6 Arts Showcases for the 2016-17 academic year. This Arts Showcase was created last year, as an extension of the Grade 6 Arts rotation course that most of our youngest students in the secondary school are enrolled in. This is the arts course which students are not with a particular teacher for the full year, but instead for only 9 weeks.
The Grade 6 Arts rotation course allows each student to experience approximately 9 weeks of instruction with teachers in Drama/Theatre, Instrumental Music, Visual Art and Vocal Music. In those 9 weeks teachers introduce students to experiences, knowledge and skills that are not only fun for students, but also are academically valuable.
The goals of the Grade 6 arts rotation program are:
The Grade 6 Arts Showcase gives us a way of presenting the work of these students while the knowledge and experience gained is still fresh with them. It’s a great way of celebrating their hard work and the hard work of their instructors while giving students a taste of what is to come if they should choose to continue in one of the arts disciplines through the rest of their Middle School and High School career. This arts rotation has also evolved into an effective community building event for our Grade 6 students, their parents and their teachers.
Below are the kinds of encouraging comments that our teachers have received from parents and colleagues in response to the showcase:
"You all were great…The progress that students made in just 9 weeks was awesome!!!”
"Looking forward to the next showcase!…We appreciate all your work!"
"My child is sad that he will not have your class anymore this year. He is constantly talking about what you’ve been working on in class!”
"Thank you for the presentation. It really makes a big impact!”
Yesterday’s event was particularly noteworthy due to the quality of what was presented by our students. Thank you to the excellent and hard work of our teachers in the Secondary Arts Department – Mr. Matt Mazzola – Visual Art, Ms Yvette McGregor – Drama & Theatre, Ms. Whitney Mininger – Vocal Music, and Ms. Kelley Taylor – Instrumental Music.
Attendance Reminders
At GAA we strive to create an engaging, rigorous academic program for your child. Because of this rigor, and because much of the engagement and learning happens through collaborative learning structures in the classroom, attendance is vital for your child’s success.
Any absence, regardless of the reason, has the potential to significantly affect a student’s performance in a class. While we appreciate that there are times when an absence is unavoidable, students who miss more than 7 classes for any one subject will be reviewed, and could potentially lose credit for that course. If a student absence is unavoidable, it is imperative that the parent contacts the Secondary Office to inform the school and that the student takes responsibility for the missed learning by speaking with their teacher and their classmates to ensure they do everything they can to catch up.
Please support our efforts to help your child succeed at the highest possible level – plan appointments and holidays for non-school time, and help your child make healthy choices to avoid illness.
Regards,
Katherine Banner
Students learn the difficult choral music prior to going, including 2 brand new compositions that the choir will be premiering. Once at the festival, the students come together and intensively rehearse for 4 days, conducted by a prestigious director. This year, they are being conducted by Dr. Nicole Lamartine. At the conclusion of their 4 days of rehearsing, the students put on a Gala concert that will be streamed live worldwide.
All high school singers that are a member of a choir at GEMS have the opportunity to audition for this honor choir, the next possibility to audition will be in the fall of 2017. Interested students will be given materials to prepare over the summer. More information can be found at www.amis-online.org
Grade 6 Art Showcase
The Secondary Arts Department presented the first of 4 Grade 6 Arts Showcases for the 2016-17 academic year. This Arts Showcase was created last year, as an extension of the Grade 6 Arts rotation course that most of our youngest students in the secondary school are enrolled in. This is the arts course which students are not with a particular teacher for the full year, but instead for only 9 weeks.
The Grade 6 Arts rotation course allows each student to experience approximately 9 weeks of instruction with teachers in Drama/Theatre, Instrumental Music, Visual Art and Vocal Music. In those 9 weeks teachers introduce students to experiences, knowledge and skills that are not only fun for students, but also are academically valuable.
The goals of the Grade 6 arts rotation program are:
- To establish a foundation for positive Studio Learning Habits – which translate to compulsory academic skills
- To establish a foundation of basic knowledge and skill in the various arts disciplines
- To help our Grade 6 students be better informed about their arts curricular choices when they enter Grade 7
The Grade 6 Arts Showcase gives us a way of presenting the work of these students while the knowledge and experience gained is still fresh with them. It’s a great way of celebrating their hard work and the hard work of their instructors while giving students a taste of what is to come if they should choose to continue in one of the arts disciplines through the rest of their Middle School and High School career. This arts rotation has also evolved into an effective community building event for our Grade 6 students, their parents and their teachers.
Below are the kinds of encouraging comments that our teachers have received from parents and colleagues in response to the showcase:
"You all were great…The progress that students made in just 9 weeks was awesome!!!”
"Looking forward to the next showcase!…We appreciate all your work!"
"My child is sad that he will not have your class anymore this year. He is constantly talking about what you’ve been working on in class!”
"Thank you for the presentation. It really makes a big impact!”
Yesterday’s event was particularly noteworthy due to the quality of what was presented by our students. Thank you to the excellent and hard work of our teachers in the Secondary Arts Department – Mr. Matt Mazzola – Visual Art, Ms Yvette McGregor – Drama & Theatre, Ms. Whitney Mininger – Vocal Music, and Ms. Kelley Taylor – Instrumental Music.
Attendance Reminders
At GAA we strive to create an engaging, rigorous academic program for your child. Because of this rigor, and because much of the engagement and learning happens through collaborative learning structures in the classroom, attendance is vital for your child’s success.
Any absence, regardless of the reason, has the potential to significantly affect a student’s performance in a class. While we appreciate that there are times when an absence is unavoidable, students who miss more than 7 classes for any one subject will be reviewed, and could potentially lose credit for that course. If a student absence is unavoidable, it is imperative that the parent contacts the Secondary Office to inform the school and that the student takes responsibility for the missed learning by speaking with their teacher and their classmates to ensure they do everything they can to catch up.
Please support our efforts to help your child succeed at the highest possible level – plan appointments and holidays for non-school time, and help your child make healthy choices to avoid illness.
Regards,
Katherine Banner