|
I marvel at the talents of our students. They sing, dance, write, play act, paint and celebrate life through the arts.
Recently, I attended the BTW Showcase at the Davis Theatre. I asked principal Quesha Starks to have a student write something about the event. I am pleased to offer this as a description of the Showcase through the eyes of a student.
Barb
Showcase 2010: Inspire Arts . . . Revive Education
Booker T. Washington Magnet High School
Classified as one of U.S. News and World Report’s Top High Schools in Nation
From the first dim light and the first glint of sound until the finale’s falling glitter, Booker T. Washington Magnet High School’s “Showcase,” produced annually in January at the Davis Theater, gives the city an opportunity to understand what goes on at the city’s only arts high school. This year’s theme, “Inspire Arts. . . Revive Education,” led the school’s magnet faculty to incorporate performance pieces that remind us why arts education is so important, even in times when the scalpel – and sometimes hatchet -- of financial cuts takes aim on our schools.
Gary Moore, whose tenure at BTW dates back to the beginning days of CCPAC at Carver, directs “Showcase” each year, and his mighty task is to give the show’s two audiences – public school students during the day and the general public in the evening – a one-to-two hour look at how incredible and talented our school’s students and faculty are. Packing dance, classical guitar, art, photography, strings, piano, two bands, choral music, creative writing, and more onto one stage for a show of that brief duration is a year-long process that must begin the day after the previous year’s show. And as awe-inspiring as “Showcase” can be – whether it is a teenager’s hands in a floating barrage across the black-and-white keys or dozens of dancers gliding around the black-marleyed floor – it is only a peek at what BTW is in total.
Together we have had the privilege of being fascinated by the lights, the magic, the dancing, the singing, and of course, the talent in “Showcase” many times. It is hard to proclaim whether this year’s “Showcase” is more or less brilliant in its extravagance and surprisingly uplifting performances than in previous years. We can only repeat what we have heard over and over, “I can’t believe those are high school students!” Too often, people who aren’t involved in education see teenagers only at the mall hanging out or on a news report that explains with chagrin that today’s teens won’t get off their cell phones and iPods. But as a teacher and a student at BTW, we see another side: teenagers who work hard for a period of years to gain more and more skill in an art form. “Showcase” is the public’s opportunity to see that side, too.
We think it is safe to say that BTW’s “Showcase” is a crowd-pleaser. Displaying so many individual talents, the collaboration of students from various magnets contributes to making “Showcase” something spectacular, a fine example of how important the arts are in entertaining and enlightening each and every audience person who encounters them.
Taylor Zimmerman is an eleventh-grader enrolled in BTW’s Creative Writing Magnet
Foster Dickson is the Creative Writing Instructor at BTW Magnet High School
|
What We Do 
