Milton Town School District
The Band!
By Phil Mears, Instrumental Music Director
Milton Elementary School
Music helps us to fulfill our sense of civic duty. Students at Milton Elementary School have been learning and applying this lesson using their own music to honor and celebrate their community.
On September 11, 2001, I was teaching in a tiny Franklin County school on the Vermont/Canadian border. That morning I was called out of a band rehearsal by the school’s principal into the hallway to be informed of the first sketchy reports of the attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. I remember thinking that what she was telling me was incomplete information and when the day was done it could not be true. I went back to my rehearsal confused.
Somehow, most of us are able to go on with our lives and heal to varying degrees. Life continued for me and by the end of that school year I was changing jobs and would start at Milton Elementary School in September 2002. In May of 2003, Principal Don Lange asked me if we could get our band out around the flagpole for a Memorial Day Ceremony. We were all feeling a renewed sense of community and civic duty.
I thought the best way to get the band to where they were needed was to march them there. We were quite a motley crew that first outing. The students helped to bring the ceremony to life though with the “Star Spangled Banner,” a march, “Amazing Grace,” a couple of patriotic numbers from the 5/6 chorus, a few speeches and finally trumpet Taps. It would be our only attempt at marching that year, but it struck deep meaning for all of us there.
In the fall of 2003 the band began their fundraising efforts and outfitted themselves with banners, flags, marching drums and matching T-shirts. In April 2004, we took the show on the road for the Vermont Maple Festival Parade in St. Albans. It was our first real parade with thousands of spectators!
The day we had set aside for the 2004 Memorial Day Ceremony at the Elementary School was rainy. Our community had just learned of the loss of one of our own. The band did not march triumphantly out to the flagpole as it had in 2003. We marched into the 5/6 gymnasium single file to the sound of muted drums. As the band students slowly streamed into the gym and reconstituted themselves in a block formation, it seemed they would never stop coming. It took several minutes for the nearly 100 musicians to take their places. In that simple act, coming together and standing as one, our students demonstrated what we needed as a community.
Time has not stood still for us and the band has now marched in the Dairy Day Parade in Enosburg. The band has just marched in its second Maple Festival Parade this past April 24.
At the conclusion of that first Memorial Day Ceremony in 2003, Mr. Lange asked me how the band was going to exit a tight “parking” spot in which I had left them. I truly had not thought about it until that moment. I told him I was not sure because we had not learned how to back up! The kids were able to march forward and perform a totally unrehearsed U-turn. The band has continued to move forward and takes great pride in the contribution they make to the Milton community.
CELEBRATE COLORS
By Art Teachers: Ruby Thibault, Bruce Lee
Celebrate Colors was an art exhibit held the evening of March 24th at the Milton Elementary School. The art room and the 5/6 gym were filled with an abundance of creative masterpieces.
Color was everywhere. Monoprints of Lake Champlain illustrated the importance of texture, line and form. Collaged animal paintings were inspired by the works of Eric Carle.
Student artists using wooden geometric forms, created people sculptures in the Cubism style. Brightly painted murals lined the walls of the gymnasium, designed in the style of a surrealist artist, Joan Miro.
It was a pleasure to see parents and friends reviewing the visual art work created by our talented student artists.
ELEMENTS OF ART
By K-4 Art Teacher, Ms. Cobler
The elements of art: colors, lines and shapes have been the study of Cricket Cobler's art classes this year. Students in kindergarten through fourth grade have a different look at their world as they search for these elements. Children can be seen leaving the art room with masterpieces displayed in a mixture of primary, secondary and complementary colors.
The arts are integrated throughout the core curriculum. Ms. Yandow's fourth grade students have created a 3-D wall hanging. The hanging consists of three painted murals which depicts time periods that the students researched and studied in their Vermont history unit. In third grade, to culminate Miss LaFromboise's space unit, the students constructed planets made from a variety paper mediums: calendars, construction paper and paper donated from the Milton Community.
If you do not mind rolling up your sleeves and donning a baggy art shirt, you are welcome to join in on one of the art classes!
A Banner Year for Milton Music
By Andrew Rosacker
This has been a very exciting year for the Milton High School music department as a number of students have had the opportunity to represent Milton in local, state and regional festivals. Five vocalists and five instrumentalists are taking part in this month’s Vermont All State Music Festival in Middlebury. Jayden Choquette, Doug Koonz, Meg Lewellen, Maddie Monty and Virginia Stout will all be singing with the All State Chorus. Milton students playing with the All State Band are Emily Bedard (clarinet), Audrey Bell (flute), Nicole Mongeon (trumpet) and Caleb Ruopp (French horn). Betsy Gordon (trumpet) will perform with the All State Orchestra.
Several students were also selected to participate in the New England Music Festival in Connecticut in March. Four students were accepted into the Festival Band: Emily Bedard (clarinet), Audrey Bell (flute), Betsy Gordon (trumpet) and Nicole Mongeon (trumpet). Three students were accepted into the Festival Chorus: Jazmin Averbuck, Jayden Choquette and Sasha Mariña. These students were accepted based on the exceptional quality of their performances at the New England Solo & Ensemble Festival in December.
I addition, Stephanie Wheel was selected as a scholarship finalist for the Northwest District Music Festival on the strength of her initial vocal audition. Steph performed with the other finalists at a concert in St. Albans in January.
We are tremendously proud of all of our students’ achievements. The festivals are a wonderful opportunity for students to work with other talented and dedicated musicians in the region and to learn from university-level conductors. We are delighted that so many of our students have been able to participate.
“Sparks” Laid to Rest
By Nicole Mongeon
Having moved on to the state level, MHS Theater’s 2005 One Act “Sparks in the Park” had a great performance. However, they will not be moving on to the New England Festival.
At the Vermont State Drama Festival in St. Johnsbury, “Sparks” was the last show to perform. Directors and adjudicators from other schools had plenty of positive feedback about the show. “Great energy” and “wonderful set, lights and sound” were some of their most frequent comments.
Doug Koonz and Jayden Choquette received awards for excellence in acting. The technical crew—Michelle Conte, Betsy Gordon, Sarah Parker, Nicole Corbiere, and Ted Miller—all received compliments for their excellent scene changes. Celeste Parot was commended for running the sound system, while Chris Shepard did a great job giving the actors some light!
There was something a little bit special about the last performance of “Sparks”: the role of Buddy Hollister was played by stage manager Nicole Mongeon. She can tell you that performing in front of an audience for the first time at a State Drama Festival makes her feel just a little bit of pressure, but thanks to the support of director Larry McDonald, production coordinator Kathy Therriault, costume designer Doreen Slusser and technical director John Lindsay, she didn’t faint on stage.
“Sparks in the Park” will no longer be performed by MHS. It was a blast, just like all the festivals have been in the past five years. As my last drama festival, it was the most special to me personally, because I had the chance to try something new—something EXTREMELY new. I also had the chance to find out that I loved it.
Thanks to the whole cast, crew, and adults!
MHS Theater has begun working on their last production of the year. The spring show performances will be on Wednesday, June 1 and Thursday, June 2. Look for more information on the spring show in further issues of the Milton Independent.
Ms. Verchereau’s art students of working in textile arts.
All State 2005 Participants
Caleb, Jaydn , Audrey, Nicole, Betsy, Virginia, Emily (not pictured) Meg, Maddie, Doug
New Englands 2005 Participants
Jazmin, Jaydn, Audrey, Nicole, Betsy, Sasha and Emily