Lakewood Elementary’s third annual original opera will present the “real world” as seen through the eyes of sixth graders.
On Nov. 17, the school will present “What’s Wrong With This Picture” at 7:30 p.m., a 30-minute production written, composed and produced entirely by 48 Lakewood sixth graders.
The sixth graders make up the Image Opera Company, which is putting on the production. Students applied for jobs with the company. Positions include writers, composers, set designers, performers, managers and carpenters. Music teacher Karen Kimball and sixth-grade teacher Rita Samuels are supervising.
“The teachers are supervising, but we are the ones doing all the work,” says sixth-grader Michelle McCullough of the public relations committee.
Lakewood is one of two DISD schools to be chosen for the Creating Original Opera program started and supported by the Metropolitan Opera Guild of New York City, McCullough says.
Kimball and Samuels have attended workshops conducted by the guild for the last three summers, which trained them for the project.
Kimball says the students wrote the lyrics and music, which they will sing and play themselves.
The opera is free and will be put on in Lakewood’s auditorium, 3000 Hillbrook.
Zaragoza Students Win College Bonds
Nine Ignacio Zaragoza Elementary students won bonds for their college educations in a poster contest sponsored by Gardere & Wynne law firm.
The theme for the contest was “What Dies y Seis means to me.” Dies y Seis de Septiembre, or Sept. 16, is the Mexican Independence Day.
Zaragoza students chose 30 posters, 10 each from fourth, fifth and sixth grade, to represent their school at a catered luncheon at Thanks-Giving Square downtown.
The poster artists and their parents were bused downtown by Gardere & Wynne, where the firm awarded $75, $50 and $25 savings bonds for the top three posters in each grade level.
The sixth grade winners were Gerardo Arambula, Jose Villa and Belen Aguilar. Isaac Rangel, Martha Urbina and Ginnean Tatum were the fifth place winners, and Tommy Martin, Marcos Zamora and Margarito Mendoza won for the fourth grade.
Giving Woodrow a Boost
Woodrow Wilson High School’s Academic Booster Club is looking for people to give time, money or both to improve the quality of education at the school.
The club has outlined projects this year, in which club members can get involved, says Booster Club President Bill Hammond.
The projects are a student tutoring program; an enrichment lecture series with a Career Fair; a teachers assistant program to provide volunteers with secretarial skills and to raise money for new computers and printers; and an academic competition program.
Club membership is $15 per person/family and $7.50 for teachers. The annual dues cover costs of a quarterly newsletter and miscellaneous correspondence, Hammond says. Additional donations are tax deductible and will be used for the 1994-1995 programs.
For information, call Hammond at 823-1725.
News & Notes
WOODROW AND LONG SELECTED FOR PILOT PROGRAM: Woodrow Wilson High School and J.L. Long Middle School are among seven schools DISD chose to pilot its new Honors Development Advanced Placement Incentive Program.
The program is intended to increase the number and variety of AP courses offered and to encourage more students to take these courses.
Students who receive high marks on AP examinations will receive $100 scholarships, and teachers who put in extra work to teach AP courses will receive cash stipends. DISD plans to expand the program next year to include more schools.
FANNIN EDUCATES PARENTS: Each month Fannin Elementary holds a parent education meeting in the school’s cafeteria. Guest speakers discuss parental concerns. The meetings are conducted in English and Spanish, and child care is provided at the school.
“The whole goal is to encourage parents to be active in their child’s education,” says Dulce Parker, Fannin’s community liaison. “Parents need to learn too. Children and parents need to grow together.”
For information about the meetings, call the school at 841-5175 or contact Parker at 841-5249.
STONEWALL’S EARLY CHILDHOOD PTA: Stonewall Jackson Elementary’s Early Childhood PTA meets Nov. 10 at 7:15 p.m. in the school library to make seasonal decorations. Instruction and materials will be provided by Wendy Collins of Amber’s. To cover supplies, $5 will be charged.
The Early Childhood PTA is also planning a children’s outing for Nov. 17 at 3:30 p.m. For information, call Jan Neal at 824-5788 or Julie Sneed at 821-9867.
