(Photo courtesy of Parker School)

MEDIA RELEASE

Parker School is celebrating arts in action this week in conjunction with the National Arts Education Week.

A House of Representatives resolution recognizes the link the arts play in developing well-rounded students, ready to take on the global economy with a competitive understanding of the world they will inherit.

Ms. Buscher, has organized an exhibit of AP Studio student artwork now on display in Barbara Hall. Other classes have designed the first installment of the community mural project in honor of International Peace Day. Artwork from all art classes K-12 has been submitted to the Honokaa International Peace Day celebration.

Fine Arts Director, Ms. Oom, is working with grades K-2 bringing literature and curricular themes to life through singing, playing of Orff instruments and creative movement.

The new middle and upper school Instrumental Music class is furthering growth in cultural awareness through percussion and music composition while Kiyoshi Najita’s popular songwriting and recording class completes their first song in the Parker recording studio.

Mr. Najita and his AP Literature class viewed “Being There” as a source on a unit about the relationship between faith and art.

The Parker School Dramatiques are rehearsing for the fall production of “The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow” being presented Oct. 22-24.

They are also hosting guest artists and slam poets from Youth Speaks Hawaii though the Hawaii Arts Alliance, which is 4:15-5 p.m. Friday, Sept. 17 in the Parker School Theatre. This free event is open to the public.

This month the third graders and their teacher, Ms. Brown, are making 3-D Earth models using many different types of material including food items.

Brown said, “We are also doing many craft and art activities during our Native American Unit – making dream catchers, coil clay pots. Additionally, we perform short plays of Native Myths, and we will be doing a short play and dance for parents about the water cycle.”

Ms. Culff and her English class are presenting a banned books poster presentation and exhibit in the main hall on campus.

Ms. Rocky and her middle school history and English students use literature and film to make special note of how ideas, language, and art travel through history and time.

Ms. Rocky’s grade six English class is working from the core of Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Mother Goose and Aesop, the sixth grade is undertaking the dissection of Fairy tales in their multitude of modes.

Using HBO’s Fairy Tale Theatre, NPR’s “Oral Histories of Children’s Tales”, Jon Scieszka’s postmodern re-tellings, “The Brothers Grimm” (Terry Gilliam 2005), “Shrek II” (2004), and the Broadway Musical “Into the Woods” (Bernadette Peters, James Lapine 1991), the sixth grade is exploring meaning, form and function (with the emphasis on “fun”) of standard tales and how those things change over time, over space, and with perspective.

For more information, visit www.parkerschool.net