The arts are thriving at Downey Unified
Eye on our Schools
This is my third month of Eye on our Schools, I hope you have enjoyed the first two articles and hope you will continue with me on my journey through our schools. To save space in this article, I’m abbreviating the middle schools to MS and high schools to HS or sometimes I just drop the initials completely.
Words cannot express the great pride I take when asked what school district I represent. I reply the “Great and Wonderful Downey Unified School District” because that is exactly how I feel about this district and so much more. Education in Downey Unified is about much more than the three “R’s” (reading, writing and arithmetic). More specifically it’s also about creating students who value the Arts.
The past few weeks, I was lucky to see some of the activities associated with the Arts at the middle schools. Our drama teachers are the best around! They are excited about their plays and project energy onto their students, who in turn use that energy in their performances. We also have a great community full of supporters and parents who dedicate their free time in support of our students.
I laughed (and sometimes sang) along with the audience at the productions of “Shakespeare Goes To Gravel Gulch….” at Doty MS, “Haphazardly Ever After” at Griffiths MS and “Grease” at Stauffer MS. I love the “outtakes” and commercials that you get to watch during intermission at Doty; they made me laugh and kept me entertained while the crew got ready for the next act.
Watching the kids do the “hand Jive” during “Grease” took me back a few years, and I must give kudos to dedicated community member, Mr. Jeff Toussing, who carved and painted the Greased Lightnin’ car out of styrofoam for Stauffer.
At Griffiths, there was a student in the audience from another district and at the end of the performance I overheard her ask the person sitting next to her if this was a magnet school. The girl she asked replied that it was not. She then responded saying that this production was better than the plays at her own performing arts magnet school… What a great compliment!
These may be middle school productions, but our students, sets and costumes are a big step above standard middle school expectations.
Now moving on to the productions at the high schools, which seem like they could be seen live on Broadway! I recently saw the Downey HS production of “In The Heights” at the Downey Civic Theatre, with music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and wonderful sets designed and built by Downey HS teacher Vincent Appel.
Downey High School students performing “In the Heights.”
There was dancing, singing, cheering, crying and everything in-between. I was amazed by the students’ ability to remember the often long and fast paced dialogue. You would have thought you were sitting at the Pantages Theatre.
And let’s not forget the great productions at Warren HS. While they are always in a smaller and more intimate setting where they do not need to use a microphone, the students are spot on when it comes to being funny, engaging, dramatic and captivating.
I saw their most recent play last Saturday, “Yankee Tavern” and I have to say that it was another brilliant production. Warren’s drama teacher majored in set design and again he didn’t disappoint. The stage was turned into a working tavern where attendees could purchase a beverage for the evening…non-alcoholic of course. The only beer on tap was root beer.
My favorite annual play is “Night of the Living Dead” where a certain science teacher does a guest appearance as a Zombie. A few years ago, the construction teacher built a rotating platform into the stage floor that turns between scenes when necessary and has been used in multiple plays. That’s something you don’t see at every high school!
Warren High has another production coming up soon, the comedy “Mrs. California” beginning May 22nd through May 25th at 7:30pm. I highly recommend that you get to the Warren High theater early because seats sell out quickly.
The music programs at the middle and high schools are equally as wonderful as the drama productions. They all have opportunities for some, if not all, of the following activities such as choir groups, jazz bands, marching bands, jazz singers and the list goes on.
Downey HS just came in first place at the Monterey NextGenerations Jazz Festival against jazz bands all across the country. And Warren HS has won the Southern California School Band & Orchestra Association (SCSBOA) Division Championship two years in a row and this school year earned their highest points in school history with a 94.15.
Keep your eyes on the individual schools’ websites for opportunities to hear some of the best performances in Southern California.
I talked a lot about the drama productions, but our district also provides so many great opportunities in Music and Visual Arts for our students at all levels. I will revisit this area more during a later article.
As I close, let me put in a couple plugs… If you’d like to have some hands-on fun with animation, I recommend you go to Mr. Bill Austin’s class, Room K1, at Warren HS at 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Wednesday nights where he opens his classroom doors to anyone that wants to learn about animation.
At the elementary level, please visit the Downey Foundation for Educational Opportunities’ website (DFEO.org) to see what our partner foundation offers our students to help supplement art education.
As you can see, I am very proud of the opportunities we provide our students every day at our schools to help them become citizens of strong character. None of this would be possible if it weren’t for the support of every one of our employees. Our teachers are always looking for ways to impact our students and our non-teaching Classified staff for providing food for them every day and keep our schools looking clean, safe and inviting.
Upcoming events:
Downey HS Band Spring Concert at the Downey Civic Theater - Thursday, May 2, 7:00 p.m.
Warren HS has another play coming up that I mentioned earlier. Visit: www.emersontheatre.net for details
Warren HS Spring Concert at the Downey Civic Theater - Tuesday, April 30, 7:00 p.m.
Doty MS Spring Concert at the Downey Civic Theater – Monday, May 13, 6:30 p.m.
Griffiths MS Spring Concert – Tuesday, May 21, 6:00 p.m.
Sussman MS Concert on the Lawn – Thursday, May 16, 5:00 p.m.
I hope to see you there!
Nancy A. Swenson
President, Downey Unified Board of Education