Oliver! Tickets

Tickets go on sale for Oliver today! Once you have purchased your tickets please let Ms. Lustig and Mrs. Fuss know when nights you are available to volunteer. I can't wait to see you back stage!

Oliver! Countdown

We are in the final weeks of rehearsal for Oliver! Every student has been working hard on and off the stage to learn their parts and stay on top of their school work. When you come see the show you will understand how much time and effort was put toward learning each song and dance step. What you won't see is what has been happening off the stage. We have truly come together as a school during this process.

ACTION SHOT: Senior Mitch M. helps third grader Matthieu C. with homework during rehearsal on Monday.

LD Chorus Rehearsals

LD Chorus is called to two rehearsals this week. Monday, November 2 we will be rehearsing until 4:00. Wednesday, November 4 rehearsal will run to 5:45.

NOTES FROM MEETING:

-Please contact Cheryl Lee to let her know which days you would like to purchase tickets for the show and which days you would like to volunteer back stage. We need lots of volunteers! If you have tickets for the show or are volunteering on a certain night your child will be in the finale. It is important for Cherly Lee to plan for each night starting now.

Halloween

This is one of my favorite days at school. Personalities really come out. Happy Halloween!

Mrs. Baralt, Mrs. Bell, Ms. Díaz Leroy, Mrs. Lippincott, Mrs. Rowe, Mrs. Starr

Music Helper

We had a very special guest in music today! Angelia helped tell the story of The Vanishing Pumpkin to Mrs. Overton's and Mr. Thompson's kindergarten class. Thank you, Angelina!

LD Chorus Parent Meeting

Bill Leavengood will be holding an important meeting with all Wednesday LD Chorus parents in the Janet Root Theater. He will discuss a number of important aspects pertaining to the week of November 16-22. This short meeting will run from 5:45-6:00 pm. Please plan on attending.

See you there!

Ms. Díaz Leroy

SEW Cool!

Third grader Ashton made a case for his recorder this weekend! He choose to coordinate fabrics from the University of Virginia and the University of Florida because he loves their football teams. Ashton has already chosen UVA and UF as "A" schools when he applies to college!

Orff! Orff! Orff!

Thursday I had the opportunity to speak to the grade level representatives all about the how the Orff approach is used at Shorecrest. Orff Schulwerk is a process-oriented methodology. Did you know: Carl Orff created alto xylophone instrument after being given an African Marimba.

Read more about Carl Orff and music in schools here: American Orff-Schulwerk Association

https://www.musiciselementary.com/index.php?manufacturers_id=16
marimba!http://www.musicwithease.com/marimba-pictures.html

RECORDERS!!!

The recorders are in and the students couldn't be more excited! In our first lesson the third graders learned about the history of the recorder and how to care for their new instrument. They all played the "B" note!

Recorders and books are being sent home this week. Please take a look through the book with your student. Make sure to bring your recorders and books back to school next week so we can continue to play in class.

Mr. Wolfrath's class after their first recorder lesson. They had a blast!

LD Chorus Pick Up for Wednesday 10/14

Pick up for 10/14 will be 5:45 outside the theater. See you then!

National Arts and Humanities Month

October is National Art and Humanities Month. We are fortunate to be surrounded by the Arts here in St. Petersburg and the Tampa Bay area. There are too many theaters and galleries to explore in one month alone! Pick a few each month and take a family "Arts Outing."

THEATER and MUSIC
http://www.mahaffeytheater.com/index.html
http://www.rutheckerdhall.com/
http://www.mypalladium.org/

MUSEUMS
http://www.fine-arts.org/exhibitions.html
http://www.salvadordalimuseum.org/

MORE
http://www.floridacraftsmen.net/
http://www.moreanartscenter.org/


I happened upon the Winter Garden Music Fest this weekend. My favorite part was playing with OrisiRisi. http://www.orisirisi.com/index.html

LD Chorus Pick Up for Wednesday 10/7

We are back to our regular schedule this week. Chorus will meet in the LD music room and then rehearse in the Black Box theater. Pick up will be at 5:45 at the Black Box.

Parent Meeting for Oliver!

There will be a meeting for all parents whose children are involved in Oliver! on Monday, October 5th at 1:30 pm. The meeting will be held in the Janet Root Theater.

Classical Fun in Kindergarten

Through story and dance the Kindergartners are exploring the wonderful world classical music. Kindergartners had a blast learning Slavonic Dance No. 1 by Dvorak. Kindergarten students played the roles of the barnyard animals in this story by Deborah Lyn Ziolokoski.

The animals have been rehearsing all night in preparation for the county fair. When they perform their dance at the fair no one watches. The animals realize that they forgot to wash up after practicing all night. They quickly clean up and perform the Barnyard Dance once again to roaring applause.

Chorus Schedules 9/30

Due to conference day in the Lower Division we will not have Chorus on Wednesday, September 30. Keep signing! I'll see you next week.

Chorus Pick Up for Wednesday, September 23

This Wednesday we will have a short rehearsal and pick up will be in the Lower Division. Cheryl Lee will be out of the country so we will be working on singing only. Chorus will run until 4:00 in the LD music room. Next Wednesday, September 30, we will not have rehearsal due to conference day.

Your children sound amazing. I am so proud of what they have accomplished in such a short amount of time!

Finding Information on Oliver!

First off, I must say that helping to conduct auditions last week was an amazing experience! Every note was sung with passion, every line delivered with a ease. We teachers are surrounded by talent at every age!

To make it easier to for you to find updates on the intensive Oliver! schedule we've created a new group in our community titled "Theater Productions." Please join and check the postings regularly. This semester I will also be posting any additions to the LD Chorus in the "Theater Productions" group.

Orff on the Brain

Saturday, August 29th, Mrs. McIvor and I attend and amazing Orff workshop sponsored by the Greater Tampa Bay Area Orff Chapter. The all-day workshop was led by Rachel Batchelor, an accomplished choir conductor and teacher from Pittsburgh, PA. Each lesson learned focused on brain-friendly strategies for teaching music. We sang, danced, and played instruments all day long. We can't wait to bring these lessons to the classroom!

We loved learning some new folk dances. Here we are performing the North Skelton Sword dance. Complete with yard stick "swords!"


TA-DA! At the end of the dance all the "swords" formed a giant star.


An all-teacher Orff ensemble. How fun!

OLIVER!

Make sure you check out E-Bytes this week for information on our all-school production of Oliver! Auditions for "Consider Yourself" and "Who Will Buy" are open to students Third grade and up. They will be held in the Black Box Theater on Monday, August 31st from 3:15-4:30.

The Lower Division Chorus will sing and dance to the songs "Food, Glorious Food" and "Oliver!" and have greater time commitments than in years past. Our first meeting for the LD Chorus will be held on September 2nd in the LD music room. During this time I will introduce the songs and go over the rehearsal and show schedule. Parents are encouraged to attend!

MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Below is a list of audition and show dates carefully planned by Mr. Leavengood, and an explanation of the serious commitment necessary to participate. We will all be working long hours together, but it will be so worth it! Please feel free to email me with any questions vdiaz@shorecrest.org.

-Ms. Díaz Leroy

From Bill Leavengood:

AUDITIONS:

• We are auditioning boys and girls alike for the roles of Oliver, Dodger, Fagin’s Gang and the Workhouse Boys. Any student who auditions and is willing and able to adhere to the rehearsal and performance schedules will be cast in the show.
• All students interested in being in the production, at any level of participation, must attend the Monday audition. 3rd through 8th grade will audition 3:15-4:30. Upper Division will audition 4:30-5:45.
• Only students interested in Level Two (Major) participation (see below) need to attend the Tuesday audition from 3:15-5:45.
• Rehearsals will begin on September 2. Performance dates are November 20, 21 and 22.
• There will be two Participation Levels representing very different levels of commitment.

Level One (Basic) Participation:

• Consider Yourself/Who Will Buy? Chorus (rehearsals Mondays, 3:00-6:00 beginning Sept 14)
• Workhouse Boys (Lower Division members of Ms. Díaz Leroy’s chorus, rehearsals Wednesdays, 3:15-5:45, beginning Sept. 2).
• Level One participants will only be featured in two musical numbers.
• Level One participants will be called to rehearse one weekday per week until Monday, November 9 when they too, must be available to rehearse Monday through Friday (either after school or evenings depending on which time slot poses the fewest overall conflicts with their athletic schedules). In addition, they must be available for rehearsals Sunday, November 1st and 8th and Saturday and Sunday, November 14th and 15th.

Level Two (Major) Participation:

• All principal singing and speaking roles including: Oliver, Dodger, Nancy, Bet, Mr. Bumble, Sykes, Widow Corney, Sowerberry, Noah, Charlotte, Mrs. Bedwin, Charley, and Mr. Brownlow.
• Level Two participants must be available to rehearse every day after school beginning September 2. In addition, they must be available for rehearsal Sunday, November 1st and 8th and Saturday and Sunday, November 14th and 15th.

Requisite:

• The final two weeks of rehearsals, beginning November 9 through November 22, will impact some sports team commitments, including missed practices and/or games. Rehearsals and athletic practices/games will be scheduled as carefully as possible; however, any student in the cast of OLIVER! must attend all required rehearsals despite any conflicts that may occur with athletic practices or games.

Welcome Back!

It's hard to believe that more than two months of summer have come and gone. I am excited to be back at school. I know it can be difficult getting back into the routine of school, so let's start by sharing our summer experiences.

I began the summer teaching It's Sew Easy!, a week long sewing camp with Mrs. Bell. We were both inspired by the determination and creativity of the campers.





I took a jewelry and etching class. We used a number of techniques to create designs in copper and silver. Here is a Dia de los Muertos necklace I made by etching, sawing, and forming metal.



I took two Florida road trips, one to Miami and one to Oakland. I was in Oakland for the Fourth of July and had an amazing view of Lake Apopka.




One of the best parts of my summer was participating in Summercore, a week long technology training held right here at Shorecrest. I can't wait to share what I've learned with you in class.