Please read the article below and fill out the quiz at the end. All responses are due Thursday November 14, 2013 Marching Band Should Be Considered a Sport 1. When the average person thinks of sports they think of football, soccer, baseball, hockey, or basketball. Yeah those are all great sports, but what about those sports that aren't sports, but should be? Marching band should be considered a sport for many reasons. Marching band fits all the definitions for a sport (and it follows them to perfection). There are many statistics to reveal marching band is a sport and how hard the members work. As a member of the FMHS Wildcat Marching Band, I know we put forth an astonishing amount of time and practice to become he great athletes we are today. 2. One of the most commonly accepted definitions of a sport activity is: "a physical activity which involves propelling a mass through space or overcoming the resistance of a mass." In marching band, the color guard (the girls with the flags, etc.) toss flags, rifles, sabers, etc. into the air. And those instruments! Some can weigh fifty pounds or more! The one I had was at least twenty pounds. That's definitely more than football gear! 3. Another definition is, "a contest or competition against or with an opponent." There are many competitive marching bands out there that compete against countless opponents at each show. One of the best competitive marching band shows is the World Championship Finals, publicized each year on ESPN (a sports channel), just like other sports. There are more than 400,000 fans at each live event. 4. There are many studies evaluating how much marching band members perform. One study shows one marching band member, during a parade, works harder than a football player does during a game. When compared to a parade, a marching band member works about twice as hard in a field show. 5. Another study shows that marching band members actually NEED skills! One member needs to work every part and muscle of their body. A member needs to know how to properly march, have their music completely memorized, count, move, play, and remember what to do before and after the show, all at the same time. How many football players can count and catch a ball at the same time? Sure they have to remember the play, but that's just one thing. Football players need skills too, but they don't need as many. Marching band members have to remember at least six things all at once. One member can multi-task better than any other athlete in another sport. 6. As a member of a marching band, I know how hard we all work. In one season, I drank four times as much water then when we weren't practicing. I also lost ten pounds in one season. We practiced daily for hours upon end. I can lift heavier things now then I could before. In summary, is marching band a physical activity? Yes. Is marching band undertaken competitively? Yes. It fits all the definitions of a sport, right? Yes! There are more definitions and statistics but I don't want to bore you. So, the next time you are walking down the hallway and you see someone with a letterman’s jacket that says "Band" don't think "What a band geek," think, "What a great athlete!"
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Click the picture to the left to read the article on page 22 of the October issue of School Arts. Please answer the following questions below and submit your responses for a grade. Comments are welcome on your thoughts on the article. This assignment form is due: Friday September 20, 2013 by 11:59 PM All students must complete this assignment no later than Friday, September 13, 2013. Directions: Read the passage below and then fill out the form and send it for grading. Sketchbooks: The Ultimate Escape Author: Travis R Molina. Did you like this post? Everyone sketches. From the little doodles on the inside corner of your math textbook depicting your favorite band to even the caricatures of your boss in the bathroom stall, we as humans have this urge to express whatever is on our mind. From the routines and obligations we have in our daily life, we need outlets and hobbies to relax our mind and distract us from those pressures. Some folks play video games, others mellow out to music, and some meditate. Whatever it may be, in this article I’m going to re-introduce sketching and explain why this simple process is important and why people should continue to sketch by providing examples and referencing two artists, Evan Worsham and James Sisti. Sketching is the most important thing I learned from art school. During my undergrad, Ronnie Lawlor, an established illustrator and teacher made it clear to the class that sketching is important because 95% of the creativity and discovery happens in the doodles and playing around with ideas. I can remember during class and even at critiques she was very much interested in how each of the students approached assignments through their sketches. Imagine, you were tasked to visually represent the Invisible World. Where would you start? What would it look like? How can I make the topic personal?” With your mind racing to discover this Invisible World, you’ll soon notice that your sketches are trying to find this unseen place. There’s a certain magic that happens while sketching. In the most literal sense, sketching is problem solving. Lets go back to high school algebra…we wouldn’t rush to the solution and say that x=3, right off the bat. You need to plug different possibilities into the equation and see if it works. Artist Evan Worsham has shown below how he arrived at the finish of his pieces Girl and Bush. Notice how, in his approach for Bush, he tried several times to get the desirable impression of Bush Jr. The point is, you may not necessarily make the Mona Lisa in one try, but you’ll learn what steps it takes make her. What is a sketchbook? A sketchbook is the physical collection of ideas. However your handy little moleskin isn’t limited to doodles and designs. What I find striking is that words, poetry and even scrap booking is found in a sketchbook! So in that case, why do they call it a sketchbook? It should be named something like “MY WORLD” or “THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD”. Personalize! A sketchbook isn’t exclusively a black covered book with white paper! Design the cover! Visit your local art store and explore the different options in paper. Don’t be afraid to ask the attendants either! They might be able to point out some fun surfaces to draw on. One of the many beautiful aspects of a sketchbook is that it can be made out of anything! My friend and artist, James Sisti was nice enough to share pictures of his crafted sketchbooks, which are made out of various different weights of watercolor paper. The benefit of handmade sketchbooks is that the pages aren’t limited to the standard yellow or white paper. By doing this, you’re opening your book to a world of different papers, weights and textures. Try everything! Who knows, you may discover a liking to use hot press 300 lb Canson Water Color paper or even single ply cardboard. A way into the Mind. A sketchbook is a very personal space. I’m not advocating complete privacy, but as the author of such a piece, these pages are blessed with your personal thoughts. In the images below, you’ll notice how Evan Worsham plays with ideas. This is your space, have fun with it! A sketchbook can also tell a story. In the images below, James Sisti recounts a tragic accident through words and imagery in a sketchbook he made during recovery. Experiment man! Your sketchbook is the one realm where no one can criticize you for the wacky and ridiculous ideas you may have. Keep in mind, “Nothing is impossible”. I remember a classmate of mine painted a portrait of a friend out of ketchup. Neat, huh? Below are more examples of Sisti’s work…notice how he isn’t afraid to try new things. Don’t worry about erasing either. Maybe that misaligned pencil stroke is a mark of genius. Try cutting out a sketch and designing around it. Your sketchbook is the perfect place to have fun. History of You, Volume 1. WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT THROW OUT YOUR SKETCHBOOKS! Sorry for the caps folks, but those Picasso-esque sketches you have now may seem outlandish and irrelevant; however it may become the genesis for your next piece. To this date, I have all the sketchbooks I’ve ever drawn dating back since the freshmen year of high school. If you do the math, that’s about 9 years of my life as an artist. By browsing Amazon.com, you may find the “behind the scenes” or “the making of” style books for artists and popular movies. The awesome thing about these books is that they offer you a glimpse at what the design team or artist was thinking while creating their work. If you treat your sketchbooks in the same manner, you can track the process and steps you took to come across an idea. A cool practice is to visit those old sketchbooks…you might become inspired again. Another cool feature is how the sketchbook plays as a record of tracking significant changes in your artistic direction. Remember how Picasso had a cubist period? Well, you may find that point where you grew out of hyper realistic art and went towards a comic book graphic feel. Goodies While using Stumble Upon I came across Sketch Swap, which is a neat web browser based sketch space that allows you to doodle and share drawings with people. You can check it our here. Also, I highly recommend anyone who loves filling up sketchbooks or wants a challenge to participate with the SketchBook Project 2012. I’m participating and here is a brief blurb about the event, “Sign up to join the 2012 Sketchbook Project. Each participant receives a blank sketchbook that will be exhibited on the 2012 tour and cataloged permanently in the Brooklyn Art Library”. (Sketchbook Project) Conclusion I hope that after reading this article, you may appreciate sketching and personalize those sketchbooks. Just remember, to have fun and keep sketching! Courtesy of : http://mediamilitia.com/sketchbooks-the-ultimate-escape/ This summer the other teachers and I have been working very hard to help create a successful next year. We have learned many new and exciting things that involve technology. Below this post is some information that I found about blended learning and an example of the way one school district is implementing it. Blended learning uses technology to enhance learning, not just to deliver instruction. Well, from the last day of school until now, a bunch of dedicated MCHS students and I have been cleaning and organizing the art room to make room for our new supplies for next year! I am so proud of the bathers who have dedicated their time to not only to creating a great classroom environment, but me as well. A very heart felt thank you goes out to all of those students! |
Maureen Cusenza
Art and Photography Teacher Archives
November 2013
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