When Wynton Marsalis gave the opening concert for the new Stising Center, he also opened some hearts and minds of the local high school Jazz Band in a Master Class.
Category: Schools
Learning History By Living It!
Students enrolled in Mr. Murray’s Military History course are bringing their research and studies of the American Revolution to life. Through historic interpretation and documented analysis, students set out to recreate the life of the common soldier of the American Revolution. In Mr. Murray’s words: Research has shown that such simulated, experiential learning of living…Continue reading Learning History By Living It!
It’s Not Your Grandfather’s Shop Class!
Because it is not your grandfather’s world anymore. It’s theirs! To thrive in their world, they need new skills to cope with changing technology. The challenge is not only learning new technology — anything they learn now will be different in a few short years — it is learning how to change. A challenge for students…Continue reading It’s Not Your Grandfather’s Shop Class!
It Takes a Play to Make a Community: Backstage at The Music Man
Pine Plains has a lively history of live theatre — a story in itself. And now, every year, like high schools all over the country, it puts on an annual musical. I could say many things about the value of participating in theatre for kids, parents, and the community at large. But that would take…Continue reading It Takes a Play to Make a Community: Backstage at The Music Man
Sergeant, Make It Happen!
There was a touch of Revolutionary War and black powder smoke right in the middle of Pine Plains the other day as Neil Murray was giving his students of military history some experience of what it was like to be Continental Soldiers. I grabbed a scene with my cell phone and then, so impressed with the…Continue reading Sergeant, Make It Happen!
Spinning Squash at the Ag Fair
It’s a yearly tradition that I’ve been going to for years: the 2015 Ag Fair hosted by the Future Farmers of America at the high school in Pine Plains. This year I was hoping to find something a little different to film. But the parade started out as it does every year, with the school band, tractors, politicians, tractors, kids…Continue reading Spinning Squash at the Ag Fair
The High Schoolers Paint the Town!
We don’t often get a chance to see what goes on in the schools because everything is tucked away in brick buildings. When I heard that the high school was going to send some kids out to decorate a couple of stores for Halloween, I thought that this would be a chance to show what…Continue reading The High Schoolers Paint the Town!
The Culture of Agriculture
The farmers may be leaving their farms and the farmland, even if preserved, may be left only as viewscape. But a culture and tradition of agriculture remains. Each year the Agriculture Fair, put on by the Future Farmers of America in Pine Plains, grows as an area attraction.
Nanjing on the Hudson
Once the world was flat then it became round. Now it is flat again… The high school cafeteria was filled with the sounds and sights of Chinese in a welcome to the delegation from High School #29 in Nanjing (China).