Teachers Brush Up Their Perspective

Photo above: Arts Consortium Facilitator Beth E. welcomes teachers to the first AC Professional Development workshop

Fourteen teachers attended the pilot workshop in the Art Wing of Lexington Catholic High School for the Diocese of Lexington's Arts Consortium Professional Development series. LCHS teachers Stephen Dorsett (art) and Anne Bradford (math) combined their expertise to present "The Perspectives of Mathematics."

Stephen started things off with a brief power point display that showed reproductions of paintings that do not use perspective and paintings that do use perspective, such as da Vinci's The Last Supper, a true masterpiece of the Renaissance perspective tradition.

After a discussion about some elements of perspective ("horizon line," "vanishing point," "two dimensional space," etc.) and some elements of geometry ("point," "parallel lines," "surface area," etc.), participants got right to work on creating their own one-point perspective street scene, using their nifty drawing kits.

Anne referred teachers to the activities/sequence guide in the lesson plan handout that suggested all sorts of math exercises for all ages of students - from identifying shapes and measuring the different angles seen in a perspective drawing to calculating the area of the buildings (and windows!) in the drawing. In the meantime, Stephen continued to whip up some good-looking skyscrapers (with lots of windows!).

Teachers then had some time to continue working on their drawings and get some pointers on other fun things to do with their artwork.

Thanks to all the attendees at this first workshop for making it such a big success. The Arts Consortium plans on offering PD workshops on a regular basis from now on. The AC invites teachers to share and present their ideas for workshops to help all our teachers use the arts more fully in service of all curriculum subjects!

Dancing with the Seton Stars

Julie White of Seton Catholic sends this report from the field:

Seton Catholic School brought the famous TV show “Dancing with the Stars” right here to their school. We didn’t need famous celebrities; we had our own Seton dancers to compete. The first “Dancing with the Seton Stars” was held in the Seton Gym on April 18th. It was planned by a group of 8th graders along with the help of Mrs. Julie White, the PE teacher at Seton Catholic School.

The middle school students were able to compete in this competition with the rest of the school coming to watch. The students learned the dances in PE and then signed up for the dances that they would like to compete in. Above left, the "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow" team even made their own T-shirt for their big number.

We had celebrity judges (above right) to judge our dancers. They were Diana Evans, owner of Diana Evans school of Dance, Father Norman Fischer, an accomplished singer, dancer and artist, and Traci Steele, who is a celebrity at our school with a dance background. The judges chose the top three dancers in each category. These students were awarded prizes by the judges.

Some teachers also showed their steps. At left, Mr. Campbell kept the beat and made his team proud!

Fun was had by all and the students are looking forward to the event next year!

LCHS Band Plays a Distinguished Part at KMEA

Congratulations to the LCHS Band for earning a DISTINGUISHED rating
at the KMEA District Concert Band Festival! The festival was held at Scott County High School on April 25.

A Distinguished rating is the highest rating category and represents a "Superior" performance. The Band played Court Festival by William Latham and Bravura by C.E. Duble.

The photo above shows the band in action under the direction of Assistant Director Brad Kerns, and the photo at left shows the band being conducted by Director Allison Weitkamp.

First Arts Consortium Workshop Coming on April 29!

LCHS Art Teacher Stephen Dorsett and LCHS Math Teacher Anne Bradford will present the first in a series of Professional Development mini-workshops, sponsored by the DOL Arts Consortium. The workshop will be held Tuesday, April 29, in the Lexington Catholic Art Room (go in the big glass door entrance, turn right, go past the concession stand, and turn right into the art room). A box supper will be served at 5:30 PM, with the presentation from 6- 7PM.

Stephen and and Anne will discuss "The Perspectives of Mathematics," a fun exploration of how math concepts and art concepts come together and provide useful tools for a wide variety of applications, including art, architecture, and engineering.

The presentation is geared toward teachers of 4th to 8th grade students, but any teacher who is interested in the subject is most welcome to attend. All registered participants will receive a lesson plan and drawing tools - and registration is sponsored by the NCEA grant, so attendance is free!

The deadline for registration is noon on Monday, April 28. E-mail Jill at jheink@cdlex.org or call her at 253-1993, x252.

(The illustration above is a classic one-pont perspective study by Jan Vredeman de Vries, from his Perspective, Leiden, 1604.)

LCHS Students Open Up the Gallery Hop at CC

Lexington Catholic High School students opened up the April 18 Gallery Hop festivities at the Carnegie Center in downtown Lexington. The beautiful late afternoon spring sunshine showed off the students' beautiful paintings, sketches and photography in the very best light, as they say.

The artwork is on display at the Carnegie Center
until May 9th. The Carnegie Center is located at 251 W Second St in Gratz Park.

Gallery hours are 9:00 am to 7:30 pm Monday through Thursday,
9:00 am to 5:00 pm Friday, Saturday 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, and Sunday is closed.

Seton Catholic School Students perform in Honors Choir

Here is a message from Amy Black, music teacher at Seton Catholic School in Lexington:

Seton Catholic School had five students and one alumnus who were selected from among 1600 applicants across 11 states to perform in the Honors Choir at this year's Southern Division convention of the American Choral Directors Association.

There were 200 students in each of 3 choirs representing ages 9 through high school. They were directed by internationally recognized conductors Joan Gregoryk, David Brunner, and Kevin Fenton.

The selected students were: Gabrielle Benton, Valery Bodziony, Aimee Karbo, Olivia Rodrigue, Sarah Rogrigue, and alumnus (currently a student at SCAPA Lafayette) William Whalen.

Congratulations to these students on their outstanding achievement!

Christ the King 7th & 8th Grades present School House Rock!

The Seventh and Eighth Grades students at Christ the King invite everyone to brush up on a few basics at their production of School House Rock Live!

The performances are Friday, April 18th and Saturday, April 19th at 7:00 PM. at Christ the King, Hehman Hall, in Lexington. Tickets will be available at the door (and donations are always accepted) or contact cksshr@insightbb.com for more information.

Gallery Hop will feature Lex Cath HS Students' Art

Here is a message from Stephen Dorsett, art teacher at Lexington Catholic High School:

The Second Annual Lexington Catholic Fine Arts Exhibition will open at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning on Friday, April 18th during the Gallery Hop.

Drawings, paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, and pottery done by Lexington Catholic students within the last year will be on display. The opening will be from 5:00 to 8:00 Friday evening. Refreshments will be freely provided, and everyone is invited to attend.

If you can't make it to the opening, the show will be on display until May 9th. Gallery hours are 9:00 am to 7:30 pm Monday through Thursday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Friday, Saturday 10:00 am to 2:00 pm, and Sunday is closed.

All Invited to Lex Cath Masterworks Concert

Adam Beeken, Choir Director at Lexington Catholic High School,
sends the following message:

Thank you all for a wonderful Spring Choir Concert.
The performers and audience were wonderful. Here is a great opportunity for all of us that is rapidly approaching.

Members of Chorale have a concert the week after spring break. They have an information sheet on this and there is also one available on www.edline.net. For our parents we have two possibilities for involvement.

1. We are looking for parents to sing with us. Detailed information can be found below. We will have adults from the choirs at St. Peter and Mary Queen Parishes. I already know of a few parents who are going to participate and we may have some faculty members as well, so you will not be the only adult

2. We are also looking for sponsors to underwrite our professional orchestra members. A full sponsorship for a single orchestra member is $200 while a half is $100. Any amount would be helpful in providing the exhilarating experience of singing with an orchestra. Sponsorships will be recognized in the program for the concert.

Please note that this will be a ticketed concert $5 per ticket at the door.
Please join us for the concert on
FRIDAY APRIL 11, 7:00pm AT ST. PAUL CHURCH


Lexington Catholic Masterworks Concert
Adult/Parent/Parishioner Volunteer Sheet

For anyone interested in joining the LCHS Chorale and professional orchestra
in performing Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria in D: Major
This is a 25 minute piece of music in twelve movements with some solos and duets

You can get a copy of the musical score at www.cpdl.org the Vladimer Ursic edition
http://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Gloria_%28Antonio_Vivaldi%29

We will also have a couple of additional copies of the score at each rehearsal
You can get an audio recording of the composition at any major music store in town or online.
You can prepare by listening to the music and looking at the score
We will also have several rehearsals open to you.
You do not have to come to each rehearsal to participate.
These rehearsals are available to help you feel more prepared.
You will need to come to the rehearsal on Wed 4/9

Sun 3/30 7:00-8:30pm Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary Music Room
Sun 4/6 7:00-8:30pm Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary Music Room
Wed. 4/9 7:30-8:30pm St. Peter Sanctuary
Thu 4/10 7:00-8:00pm St. Paul Sanctuary with Orchestra


The concert will be on Friday 4/11 at 7:00pm at St. Paul Church
You will need to arrive around 6:15pm
Concert attire will be black and white (students will be in formal dresses and tux)

If you have any questions please contact
Adam Beeken abeeken@lexingtoncatholic.com

Robert Vanover rvanover@lexingtoncatholic.com

Or call 859.277.7183 ext 299

Perhaps we will see AND hear you then!

DOL arts initiative featured in Momentum!

Above, Sugar Plum Dancers get ready for their big number in the Dec. 07 production of MQHR's Nutcracker. This is a "sister photo" of the picture that appears in Momentum!

Watch for the Apr/May 2008 issue of Momentum, the Journal of the National Catholic Educators Association and read the article "Learning Through the Arts in Lexington Catholic Schools," on pg. 30. Jill Heink and Bill Farnau wrote the article to explain our pilot program here in the Fayette region to truly promote arts throughout the curriculum of each school as a means to enrich Catholic education and strengthen our schools.

The entire issue of Momentum is dedicated to the arts, with some great articles from Catholic educators across the country, so be sure to check it all out!