Students Showcase Literacy Skills at Regional Festival

Elementary and middle school poetry recitation and ready writing competitors collectively earned seven awards in the 2011 Regional Literacy Days Festival.

The annual festival was held February 2-3 in Griffin, Ga. hosted by Griffin RESA (Regional Educational Service Agency). Students from school systems in Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Newton, Pike, Spalding and Upson counties competed in three areas: Poetry Recitation, Ready Writing and Drama.

Fayette’s poetry recitation competitors came just one grade level short of receiving a placement in each grade. (Third Grade) Olivia Wernecke, second place, Braelinn Elementary; (Fourth Grade) Barrett Hester, first place, Braelinn Elementary; (Sixth Grade) Aubrey Bennett, second place, Rising Starr Middle; (Seventh Grade) Simone Jones, third place, Fayette Middle; and (Eighth Grade) Ellie Klarl, first place, Flat Rock Middle.

Two students from Rising Starr Middle placed in the Ready Writing portion of the competition. (Sixth Grade) Ethan Roland, third place; (Eighth Grade) Emma Wernecke, first place.

-----
Community News You Can Use
Click to read MORE news:
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage & @TheGATable @HookedonHistory
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
Twitter: @artsacrossga, @softnblue, @RimbomboAAG @FayetteFP

Students Headed to Literacy Days Festival

From Poetry recitation, writing, and dramatic performance, Fayette’s middle school students will show off their talents during Griffin RESA’s Literacy Days Festival on February 3.

A total of 16 students took first place in their grade levels at the Fayette County Recitation Festival last week, earning a spot in the district competition that will showcase students from school systems in Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Newton, Pike, Spalding, and Upson counties.

Contestants in the poetry recitation are Aubrey Bennett, sixth grade, Rising Starr Middle; Simone Jones, seventh grade, Fayette Middle; and Ellie Klarl, eighth grade, Flat Rock Middle.

Ready Writers representing Fayette are all from Rising Starr Middle. The students are Ethan Roland, sixth grade; Elizabeth Jowers, seventh grade; and Emma Wernecke, eighth grade.

The drama team from Fayette Middle will compete in the drama portion of the event. Students on the team are Dominque Boudreaux, Montavia Caudle, Haley Kakis, Saleena Davani, Sumvia Evans, Anna Franklin, Kezia Houston, TaNia Nash, Ashley Orta, and Cecilla Robinson. They will present “A True Princess,” an original piece written by the team.

-----
Community News You Can Use
Click to read MORE news:
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage & @TheGATable @HookedonHistory
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
Twitter: @artsacrossga, @softnblue, @RimbomboAAG @FayetteFP

Fayette Students Headed for Janfest

Five McIntosh band students will perform in the Janfest High School Band Festival hosted by the University of Georgia Bands January 20-23 in Athens.

Sarah Manley, Jesse Hu, John O’Leary, Drew Naber, and Colin Benton will be among the more than 1,000 students from states throughout the south who were selected to participate.

Participants are given the opportunity to improve their musical skills through auditions, honor and clinic bands, master classes and listening to guest bands perform. They also perform a concert at the close of the festival.

-----
Community News You Can Use
Click to read MORE news:
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage & @TheGATable @HookedonHistory
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
Twitter: @artsacrossga, @softnblue, @RimbomboAAG @FayetteFP

Awards Won for Fayette County Students at Regional Literacy Competition

After months of rehearsing and winning school and county-level competitions, students from Robert J. Burch Elementary, Cleveland Elementary, Fayette Middle and Rising Starr Middle brought home awards from the 2010 Griffin RESA Regional Literacy Days Festival.

A total of four students placed in the poetry recitation portion of the festival. They are Ian Smith, second place, Robert J. Burch Elementary, third grade; Connor Tebbe, third place, Cleveland Elementary, fourth grade; Drew Van de Motter, first place, Rising Starr Middle, sixth grade; and Virginia Lambert, first place, Fayette Middle, eighth grade.

In addition to the poetry recitation winners, Olivia Cote’, an eighth grader at Rising Starr Middle, took second place in the ready writing portion of the competition.

The Griffin RESA Regional Literacy Days Festival is a regional competition among elementary and middle schools in the Griffin RESA region which consists of Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Newton, Pike, Spalding and Upson counties.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter: @GAFrontPage

Recitation Winners Advance to District Festival

Reading and memorizing a poem is one thing, but making it come alive in front of an audience is a real feat and that is exactly what Fayette County’s elementary students did at the county’s annual Recitation Festival.

After months of memorization and practicing pronunciation, enunciation and diction, not to mention the countless hours spent rehearsing voice inflexions and facial expressions, students dazzled audience members at the 2010 festival. They were vying for the opportunity to represent the county at the district festival taking place in Griffin February 2-3.

The competitors advancing to the district competition are Jack Uszynski, kindergarten, Crabapple Lane; Elizabeth Wilson, first grade, Huddleston; Celeste Boullion, second grade, Cleveland; Ian Smith, third grade, Robert J. Burch; Connor Tebbe, fourth grade, Cleveland; and Dia Fortenberry, fifth grade, Fayetteville Intermediate.

Students qualified for the county competition by placing first in their individual school recitation competitions. The first place winners from the county festival advanced to the district level.
“I want to extend my congratulations to all students who participated in our recitation festivals from the classroom to the system level. It takes great courage and discipline to memorize a poem and recite it in front of an audience. I am so proud of each and every one of our students. There were truly some amazing recitations,” says Debbie Wheat, coordinator of K-5 language arts and K-12 reading.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
Follow us on Twitter: @GAFrontPage

Forde Selected to Participate in McDuffie Labor Day Festival in Macon

High school student Drew Forde of Peachtree City joins 15 other highly talented high school strings musicians from around the country in the Fifth Annual Robert McDuffie and Friends Labor Day Festival for Strings held in Macon September 3-7. Other Georgia students selected for this honor are Lily Handley-Taylor of Atlanta, Ray Kim of Powder Springs, Benjamin Lo of Norcross, and Mary Motschman of Marietta.

Sixteen exceptionally talented high school strings musicians from 10 states have been selected to participate in the Fifth Annual Robert McDuffie and Friends Labor Day Festival for Strings. The intensive five-day festival and musical-learning extravaganza takes place Sept. 3-7 at the Mercer University Townsend School of Music in Macon. The festival provides the students an opportunity to study at Mercer with world-renowned violinist and Distinguished University Professor of Music Robert McDuffie, as well as some of the nation’s foremost concert artists who serve as distinguished artists of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings at Mercer.

The festival provides a preview of the academic offerings of the McDuffie Center, a highly selective program within Mercer’s Townsend School of Music that prepares strings students for success in the real world through an innovative approach to music training. While the center students study with some of the nation’s renowned string musicians, receiving music instruction of conservatory quality, they also earn an academically well-rounded education from a comprehensive, nationally recognized university.

In addition to McDuffie, the following Distinguished Artists of the McDuffie Center will serve as faculty for the Festival: Amy Schwartz Moretti, director of the McDuffie Center and former concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony; Julie Albers, renowned soloist and chamber musician; David Halen, concertmaster, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Christopher Rex, principal cellist, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra; Sabina Thatcher, principal violist, The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra; and Paul Murphy, associate principal violist, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

The application process required students to provide an audition CD and letters of recommendation. All students accepted to the festival receive a full scholarship, covering tuition, housing and meals.

Opening Concert by Faculty
The Artists Concert, scheduled for 6 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 3, will feature the Festival faculty performing a variety of chamber music selections. The concert will be in Neva Langley Fickling Hall of the McCorkle Music Building on Mercer’s Macon campus. Tickets are $10 for general admission, free to Mercer faculty, staff and students. Tickets can be purchased through Mercer Ticket Sales at (478) 301-5470.

Festival Offers Free Concert
The Festival Concert, scheduled for 3 p.m., Monday, Sept. 7, will feature the students performing classical chamber music selections in small ensembles and also performing alongside their master teachers in a string orchestra led by David Halen. The concert will be in Neva Langley Fickling Hall of the McCorkle Music Building on Mercer’s Macon campus. Seating is limited and tickets are required for admission. Free tickets are available through Mercer Ticket Sales at (478) 301-5470.

Master Classes Open to the Public
The master classes will be free and open to the public for viewing. Students participating in the Festival perform solo pieces and receive instruction on stage in front of other class attendees from the distinguished artists and faculty leading the classes. Family, friends and the public are invited to attend these classes to watch the one-on-one training.

The master class schedule is as follows:
Friday, Sept. 4, 7-9 p.m.
Violin Master Class with Robert McDuffie, Fickling Hall
Cello Master Class with Julie Albers and Christopher Rex, McCorkle Room 120
Viola Master Class with Sabina Thatcher and Paul Murphy, McCorkle Room 110

Saturday, Sept. 5, 7-9 p.m.
Violin Master Class with Robert McDuffie and Amy Schwartz Moretti, Fickling Hall
(All master classes take place in the McCorkle Music Building on Mercer’s Macon campus.)

-----
Community News You Can Use
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia

Fayette County Students Win Awards at Regional Literacy Competition

After months of rehearsing and winning school and county-level competitions, students from Bennett’s Mill Middle, Fayette Middle, Oak Grove Elementary and Rising Starr Middle brought home awards from the 2009 Griffin RESA Regional Literacy Days Festival.

A total of five students placed in the poetry recitation portion of the festival. They are Ethan Scheper, Oak Grove Elementary, third grade, first place; Abby Scheper, Oak Grove Elementary, fifth grade, third place; TaNia Nash, Fayette Middle, sixth grade, first place; Diana Ricketts, Rising Starr Middle, seventh grade, third place; and Lexus White, Bennett’s Mill Middle, eighth grade, third place.

In addition to the poetry recitation winners, Livi Cote’, a seventh grader at Rising Starr Middle, took second place in the ready writing portion of the competition.

The Griffin RESA Regional Literacy Days Festival is a regional competition among elementary and middle schools in the Griffin RESA region which consists of Butts, Fayette, Henry, Lamar, Newton, Pike, Spalding and Upson counties.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Fayette Recitation Winners Advance to District Festival

Reading and memorizing a poem is one thing, but making it come alive in front of an audience is a real feat and that is exactly what Fayette’s elementary students did at the county’s annual Recitation Festival.

After months of memorization and practicing pronunciation, enunciation and diction, not to mention the countless hours spent rehearsing voice inflexions and facial expressions, students dazzled audience members at the 2009 festival. They were vying for the opportunity to represent the county at the district festival taking place in Griffin February 3-4.

Students qualified for the county competition by placing first in their individual school recitation competitions. The first place winners from grades kindergarten through fifth advanced to the district level.

This year’s competitors advancing to the district competition are Elizabeth Wilson, kindergarten, Huddleston; Drew Bogumill, first, Peeples; Caryanne Wilson, second, Huddleston; Ethan Scheper, third, Oak Grove; Tahir Murray, fourth, Fayetteville Intermediate and Abby Scheper, fifth, Oak Grove.

“I want to extend my congratulations to all students who participated in our recitation festivals from the classroom to the system level. It takes great courage and discipline to memorize a poem and recite it in front of an audience. I am so proud of each and every one of our students. There were truly some amazing recitations,” says Debbie Wheat, coordinator of K-5 language arts and K-12 reading.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Festival of Lessons and Carols November 30 at First Presbyterian Church in Peachtree City

The Sanctuary Choir of First Presbyterian Church will present A Festival of Lessons and Carols on November 30 at 11:15 am. The Festival of Lessons and Carols is a format of Christian worship service celebrating the birth of Jesus and traditionally followed at Christmas. The story of the fall of man, the promise of the Messiah, and the birth of Jesus is told in short Bible readings, interspersed with the singing of Christmas carols and hymns.

The service is based on the format of the traditional service held each Christmas in the Chapel of King’s College, Cambridge, England. First presented on Christmas Eve in 1918, the festival of Lessons and Carols format was created by Eric Milner-White, whose years as an army chaplain convinced him that the church needed different forms of worship. His original service was adapted from an order drawn up by E.W. Benson (later the Archbishop of Canterbury) who presented a similar service in 1880 in a wooden shed which served as his cathedral in Truro.

Almost immediately, other churches adapted the service for their own use.
The first broadcast of the service from King’s College took place in 1928. It has since been broadcast every year (with the exception of 1930), and there are millions of listeners world wide.

First Presbyterian Church in Peachtree City is located across from the City Library at 206 Willowbend Rd.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City, Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page

Shakerag Arts & Craft Festival in Peachtree City Sept 20-22

It’s time for the 31st annual Shakerag Arts & Crafts Festival in Peachtree City. The Peachtree City Parks and Recreation Department festival begins Saturday, September 20 and continues through Sunday, September 21, and will be held at Shakerag Knoll located at 191 McIntosh Trail, Peachtree City, GA 30269. The hours on Saturday are from 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. and 12:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Admission and parking is free.

“This is one of the biggest shows yet,” says Ashley Alonso, event coordinator. The only types of vendors they are no longer accepting are food, jewelry, crochet and handbags. The vendor applications are available at www.ptcrecreation.org or they are available at The Peachtree City Parks and Recreation Administration building.

Shakerag Arts & Crafts Festival is known for its handmade arts, crafts, and food. We have a variety of vendors, from all over Georgia and the south, with unique items for sale including pottery, paintings, portraits, ceramics, floral designs, pet items, jewelry, candles, authors, etc. Alonso mentions, “This is a great time to shop for the holidays and find something unique and original for friends and family.”

The festival will go on rain or shine. For more information please contact Ashley Alonso at (770) 631-2542 or visit us on the web at www.ptcrecreation.org.

-----
www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page
www.artsacrossgeorgia.com
Arts Across Georgia