Wednesday, March 11, 2026
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Black History Month Program and LGPE!
Did you know?
Our AC LGPE team worked hard and earned
an Excellent in Repertoire and a Superior for Sight Singing!
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Thank you to Ji-Young Lee for filming!
Circle Round the Moon by Mark Heirholzer
Kalanta of the New Year by Malcolm Dalglish
Voices of Therrell with Renise Allen
Washington High School
Practicing great audience behavior!
Working on that sight-singing!
Our AC singers did some great work learning different types of harmony for "Circle Round the Moon" and "Kalanta of the New Year" has 3-parts at the end PLUS Greek text!
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Chandler the Cello
Rehearsing with Ms. Wesley
SPARK Black History Month Program!
Friday, January 16, 2026
GMEA Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus (SEHC)
GMEA Statewide Elementary Honor Chorus
The kids had a blast working with Dr. Stanton Usher @usherstanton and Ms. Dena Byers @denabyers, and the event ran so smoothly! Kudos to our organizers, planners, and teachers who've taught the kids so well!
Our SPARK singers represented us perfectly and had great behavior! Go, Dragons! I'm so proud of Alex, Aria, Olivine, Tate, and Zachary!
Lining up for the concert in the Classic Center atrium
500 of the most dedicated singers from every part of Georgia working on our finale with Dena Byers
The view from the stage
Pre-dinner photo shoot on UGA's North Campus
Dr. Stanton Usher
Ms. Dena Byers
Our sweet SPARKies!
SPARK goes to the ASO!
Nearly 500 students, teachers, & staff (including our cafeteria staff!!) and 9 buses for the field trip. đŸ¥¹đŸ˜²
As you know, I'm super passionate (aka obsessed) with giving our students every opportunity to perform, see, and hear music whenever I can. Each year, I do my best to allow every student to attend an ASO concert, because it gives us an opportunity to hit on every Music standard for every grade level and make connections to and through academic standards, too. We will be continuing our study and revisiting the concert music and connections in the coming weeks.
The Concert
Post-concert study:
Upper grades explored the sound science behind tuning, and used apps and their ensemble instruments to apply what they've learned.
Tone generator: two pitches--comparing two pitches at A440, then altering one of the pitches by small and large increments to hear the beats and sound interference.
oscilloscope -- exploring amplitude and frequency
Online tuner -students used this tuner to check their intonation on instruments and singing--their goal was to get to A440!
Lower grades learned about the orchestra seating chart
(Where do the players sit, and why?)
Generally,
Soft instruments sit in front, and loud instruments sit in back!
High-pitched/small instruments sit to the left of the conductor
low-pitched/large instruments sit to the right of the conductor
except for the piano and harp.
Instruments made of wood are generally quieter than instruments made of metal.
Love letters to the ASO:
Did you know:
*Most people don't know how to listen—our society is fast-paced and visual, so just sitting and listening is not a skill we have anymore (adults and kids!) Listening to music helps!
*Some wiggles show authentic physiological response to listening
*when an orchestra plays a huge crescendo (gradually getting louder), it will make folks yawn!
*Many of our families use classical music as a lullaby & bedtime music, so it's natural for the kids to get sleepy. My goal is to teach them to hear an orchestra actively and override that sleepy tendency.
*Classical music is for everyone
*if students and families attend events and opportunities at the High, Alliance, ASO, Atlanta Opera, Synchronicity, Carlos Museum (and more), if they hear and learn about the hip hop & popular music, street art, muralists, and creators in our city, and they attend Atlanta United, Hawks and Gladiators games it will make our SPARK family feel familiar and welcome to walk into any space in our city and experience our city's culture.
*Most people don't know how to listen—our society is fast-paced and visual, so just sitting and listening is not a skill we have anymore (adults and kids!) Listening to music helps!
*Some wiggles show authentic physiological response to listening
*when an orchestra plays a huge crescendo (gradually getting louder), it will make folks yawn!
*Many of our families use classical music as a lullaby & bedtime music, so it's natural for the kids to get sleepy. My goal is to teach them to hear an orchestra actively and override that sleepy tendency.
*Classical music is for everyone
*if students and families attend events and opportunities at the High, Alliance, ASO, Atlanta Opera, Synchronicity, Carlos Museum (and more), if they hear and learn about the hip hop & popular music, street art, muralists, and creators in our city, and they attend Atlanta United, Hawks and Gladiators games it will make our SPARK family feel familiar and welcome to walk into any space in our city and experience our city's culture.
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