On October 4th a company called High School Nation Arts is sending a music festival to East Hamilton. While the main event that will be happening at this music festival will be a concert, headlined by Drake Bell, that is not the only purpose for having it. High School Nation Arts is a company that sends music acts around the country to different high schools to promote arts education in schools, and we are one of the only three schools in Tennessee of which they chose to come. Mr. Ford and Mrs. Chuy were the ones that organized this whole event and they, as well as some of the other arts teachers and students, were asked to tell a little about this event.
First, our high school principal and huge advocate for the arts, Mrs. Chuy was asked about her opinions on events such as the music fest that promote arts education in schools, however she wanted to start by telling just how this all got started. Getting High School Nation Arts to our school all happened one day when Mrs. Chuy received an email from the company themselves asking if she would be interested in them coming which she responded to with a yes. Mrs. Chuy also mentioned some of the other benefits that this program gives to the arts programs such as about $30,000 worth of recording equipment as well as possibly a recording studio. Mrs. Chuy went on to push her support for the arts and many other programs that are considered extra departments for schools to have by stating, “I absolutely find arts education in schools important. One major thing for us is that we are a comprehensive high school, we have to offer as many opportunities as we can for kids including fine arts, CTE, AP, dual enrolment, and all kinds of other opportunities for kids to be successful in whatever they want to do, and so yes, I think arts is very, very important in schools.” After finding out a bit about the company that puts on the festival, Mr. Ford spoke about the specific event revealing that he doesn’t actually know who will be the openers yet and that they up and coming artists put on by the producers of High School Nation, however the headliner will be as Mr. Ford put it, “Drake Bell… Nickelodeon's Drake Bell.” Mr. Ford also mentioned a couple things about the events purpose and to paraphrase him, the event is to celebrate the arts and to get students excited about potential careers in things like music, visual arts, journalism, production and just about every other art known to man, and that, “Students will have the opportunity to interact with all of those things.” Some of the ways students will get interact with the arts through this event will be some students getting to be on the crew and other students getting special press privileges to interview some of the artists. Some other artistic people, such as Mr. Boals, at our school were also asked to tell their views on the subject of arts in schools. Mr. Boals commented, “In the old days the Greeks said we needed to educate the whole person, not just part of a person, not just the mathematical side or gymnastics side, but the whole person. So, all parts of their being in all fields of knowledge and so I thinks it’s important that we have a holistic view of what people are and educate to the whole person.” Brenda Zargoza , who is a senior and in advanced art at EHS, also chimes in to tell, “I think it’s really important and I know it’s hard to have a good arts program considering it is a little expensive to get all the supplies but I still think it’s super important to have it because there’s countless kids that just carry a notebook around to draw.” One of our theatre two students, Macie Ellington, was also kind enough to share some of her thoughts on arts education. Fist, Miss. Ellington was questioned about her feeling towards the music festival and other events that promote the arts, to which she responded, “I am actually a huge fan that we have that this year because I feel like it gives students a really good opportunity to see what’s going on in (A) our community and (B) to have a person like Drake Bell, a person that’s lived that life, that’s actually been successful in the creative arts field could really get through to people about just how important the arts are.” Macie was also asked about the importance of arts in schools and rather she thinks they are or not and her response was a big yes, then she continued with, “I think it is quite possibly more important than math.” Macie also talked about how the arts have helped her through some tough times and that they’ve been a major outlet for her to express herself, then she concluded that thought with, “I don’t know where I’d be without them.” One final inquiry for Macie was why does she think some people find arts less important than other things such as sports? Her reaction… “I think that it is really sad that people think that but it’s real, it’s an issue that we have. I think that people probably think that because maybe that’s not the outlet that they need, if they haven’t experienced something or they haven’t connected with the arts like that they tend to put it out of their minds or on the back burner and act like it’s not important. Also, people are just so self absorbed and sports are probably more roundly known and more of what Americans relate to, so the creative arts kind of just get put to the side; if you can’t do a sport you may as well be smart and people don’t really take the creative arts into mind.” Everything around us, everything we see, feel, and touch is art in some form. There is so much art in the world that people see everyday and they don’t even realize it; your favorite color, book, music, TV show, everything is art and if art was gone imagine how dull the world would become. Contact Mr. Ford or Mrs. Chuy for more information on the festival, and remember the date it will take place is October 4th.
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Welcome back to the new school year East Ham Fam! This year our theatre
company is in the midst of a revival, and our East Hamilton drama teacher, Mr. Ford, has so many new things and shows planned for it. Mr. Ford has things such as: the fall show which will be All In the timing, the winter show (which is student written and produced) Lost and Found, the spring musical Little Shop of Horrors, and many more exciting things that our theatre company has not done before planned. Mr. Ford was interviewed about this year’s up coming theatre events and responded with, “In general we have a fall play, a spring musical, the winter show which will be student written and student produced, and at the very end of the year we are hoping to produce some kind of children’s theatre and perform it for kindergarteners and first graders. As far as the club goes we’re going to have some parties and go see some shows together, we’re going to volunteer with some kind of community activity, I can’t think of anything else the officers are still deciding stuff,” when asked about the 2017-2018 year. East Hamilton has never done any sort of children’s theatre program before; Mr. Ford came up with this idea and with the help of our administration he will be able to make it happen. Mr. Ford is obviously really excited for the program and this is what he had to say about it, “I’m really looking forward to the children’s theatre, I’m excited to explore the idea of doing theatre for the very young and taking it to our community and seeing what they think.” Finally, have you ever seen a show and wandered how the director went about choosing it? Well here is how Mr. Ford chose the shows for EHS this year, “The fall show is a bunch of smaller scenes and it actually is a lot more challenging for each character, I feel like we have a cast that’s ready for a challenge. As for the spring show, we’re going to do it because I think we have the right personnel but also I think it’s a really, really fun show and I’ve wanted to do it for a long time and so I think it’s time. That’s pretty much all that goes into my decision making: is it something that our company can handle and is it something our audience wants to see .The fall show is a lot more about developing the actor and the spring musical is more about entertaining the community and the school.” Do you guys ever get excited about coming back to certain things, activities, or clubs at the beginning of the school year? Well, Gracie Vogel, who is a junior here and has been involved in theatre for the past two years as well as being our new theatre club president, was also asked about theatrical events that the school will be partaking in this year and here is what she is looking forward to pertaining to theatre this year, “I’m looking forward to new faces and new experiences with all of my favorite people for another year!!” There’s a saying, “art is in the eye of the beholder,” meaning each person sees the same art piece in different ways and has different opinions about it, with that in mind, Gracie said, “I would love to see the theatre get involved in more volunteering and group work as a community, and I think that is definitely coming in the near future thanks to the development of our theatre club. I’m also very excited to see and be a part of our productions as a company, All in the Timing in the fall and Little Shop of Horrors and the spring, but also the production that we are doing with Samantha Goe and Harrison Ivins for their capstone titled Lost and Found. Theatre in high school has always been about prioritizing students and making sure they get the most out of their experiences, and a student written, produced, directed, and acted production is the epitome of that,” when presented with an inquiry about her opinions of what she would like to see the theatre do this year. High school is full of moments and memories that students will carry with them forever and joining clubs and groups is a huge part of that, people take a lot from doing stuff like that in high school, and when Gracie was asked what she hopes new students just joining the theatre will take from it she answered, “I am thrilled to have new students participate in theatre! I want new students to mostly take that theatre is a place of acceptance and fun, and our entire motto with in the company and club is to include everyone, spread positivity and work hard for a fantastic result. Also, I hope they can come to realize that everyone is really freaking weird man.” Another person that was gracious enough to take the time to talk about our theatre company was the assistant director of the fall show, Samantha Campo. Sam has been involved with our theatre company for one year (it will be two at the end of this year.) Although Sam has not been involved with the theatre company for as long as Mr. Ford or Gracie, she still has a passion and great level of knowledge about it. Because Sam dose have those afore mentioned traits, she was also questioned about her thoughts and what it is she likes most about our theatre company to which she says, “This year in theatre I’m looking forward to the community that it brings together and everybody grow in their talents.” Connecting to Sam’s reference to the community that theatre creates, it is just as much for the outside community, which was made clear when she stated, “I would like the theatre to be a part of community service. Maybe some kids the basics of acting or putting on shows for assisted living,” in response to what she would like to see theatre do or be a part of. Finally, because our company has new faces coming in this year, Sam tells that, “The best part of theatre is the friendships and memories that come along. All the rehearsal time that is put in makes everybody grow a little closer and work together to preform amazing shows. I want new students to be a part of the team and community that the theatre offers,” when discussing what she wants the new students to take from their theatre experience. To conclude, our theatre company is looking to expand a lot this year, they want to be more relevant in the community by doing things such as having two shows before holiday break and our spring musical, as well as other community events. If you are interested in becoming a part of the East Hamilton theatre company and would like more information contact Mr. Ford. Chattanooga is known as the scenic city known for its environment and architecture, but another “scene” Chattanooga has is the arts. One of the artistic events that are coming up in Chattanooga are The Adams Family put on by the Christian Family Theatre and many things that the East Brainerd Community Theatre (EBCT) is doing this year such as Broadway revues and full-length plays and musicals.
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Art ArticlesWelcome to the Arts section of the East Hamilton newspaper. Here you will find articles on Theater, visual arts, music, and more. |