Elementary Students Present History & Art to Board of Education

This week was “Parachute Week” at Ferndale Lower! Kindergarten through second grade Music and P.E. classes combined together to do cross-curricular and cross-grade level activities with the parachute. There was so much laughter, fun, and learning! There was folk dancing, popcorn balls, mountain climbing, tents and more that incorporated essential skills of working together. Music and gym classes promote social emotional learning in a natural and organic way. It was so much fun!

This past weekend, the Symphony Band played at MSBOA Band and Orchestra Festival and got straight 1 (superior) ratings from all 3 judges in performance, and a 2 (excellent) rating in sight-reading. That means a strong 1 rating overall.

Ferndale Director of Bands Elon Jamison reported, "The auditorium chairperson was blown away...Lots of directors have said things about the consequences of COVID about their performances today, but he said that it didn't sound like Covid had impacted us at all." Mr. Jamison praised the students for their hardwork since September that earned this high score. "I am SO proud of them. They've shown up every day and gotten better. I would say they've probably exhibited at least a year and a half of growth, in only 6+ months."

In addition, Wind Ensemble performed today (March 17th) at the Great Lakes Concert Band Festival at Easter Michigan University. This event is a non-rated, non-competitive festival affiliated with Bands of America, the national concert and marching band organization. It featured twelve high school bands from around the state (as far as as Manistee and Traverse City), as well as a performance by the EMU Wind Symphony.

Wind Ensemble performed a challenging 25-minute program, and did a phenomenal job. Performing groups were assigned a clinician after each performance, and Ferndale was fortunate to work with Dr. Stephen G. Peterson—recently retired Director of Bands at University of Illinois. While he gave them plenty to work on, he also had high praise for their musicianship and achievement. "When he was told that Ferndale HS has a student enrollment of less than 700, he was floored with what they played and how they played it! He assumed we were a large suburban school of 1500 students or more," Mr. Jamison said.

We are all so proud of our Golden Eagles and cannot wait to hear their beautiful sounds once again. The next performance of Symphony Band and Wind Ensemble will be on Wednesday, May 3, at 7:30 pm in the FHS Auditorium.

March is Reading Month, and we are bringing in friends and neighbors from all around town to show students their favorite books. Superintendent Goodrum stopped by Mrs. Lusk's 4th Grade classroom to read Magnolia Flowers by Zora Neal Hurston, adapted by Ibram X. Kendi, and illustrated by Loveis Wise.

Ferndale Early Childhood Center spent two days drumming away with Lori Fithian, creator of Drummunity. Ms. Lori brought in many tall hand drums and a diverse range of other percussion instruments for some high energy, interactive fun! Our littlest eagles loved to create beautiful music together: shaking to the beat, beating to the rhythm, and bringing out the sound in everyday instruments from muffin tins to salad bowls!  More information about Lori and the traveling program can be found here:  Drummunity.com

We are FUEL our bodies and brains with a new motor pathway, integrating puzzles and simple thinking exercises with whole body movement. Like Ms. Meloche reminds us, its important to practice these fun activities in whatever way is comfortable for YOUR body. Exercises that include crossing the midline are very important for learning reading and writing.

Learn more about music and movement in our schools at our Brain Based Integration page

This Whole Child development exercise was created by our district-wide Occupational & Physical Therapy team: Megan Meloche, Jessica Guerra, and Torre Church. You can make your own Motor Pathway at home and share your pics and videos with us on the FUEL facebook page: Facebook.com/FUELschool or email them to contact@ferndaleschools.org.