Northeast Middle School Performing Arts students tossed paper snowballs during their “In the Winter” show. They’re wearing their new Performance Arts T-shirts, a huge hit with the kids, and a kind of status symbol at the school. (Provided)
Middle school choirs stand on risers and sing, sixth graders first, then the seventh and eighth graders. Except they don’t, at Northeast Middle School (NEMS).
Teacher Shannon McGuire has transformed the choir department into a performing arts group that not only involves all the grades all at once, but uses green screen technology and features student-written skits.
This is McGuire’s second go-round at NEMS; she taught there in 1995 and returned to the school four years ago after teaching at North High School. The thought of teaching 180 newly-minted teenagers may be daunting to some, but McGuire is enthusiastic about the challenge.
“Motivation is sometimes hard,” she said. “The kids might be tired, or squirrelly. Their singing voices are changing — girls’ drop to a whisper, boys’ crack and pop. They’re going from a child voice to an adult voice. They lose their singing range.” She said her job is to help the kids make the most of their vocal instruments. She calls it “vocal empowerment.”
But the program isn’t confined to learning the words to a song and hitting the right notes. The school’s winter concert featured projects that included writing and performing skits, choral readings and singing in various ensembles. One skit was based on the story, “Stone Soup.” Another, “Two Jasmines,” was a spoof on Disney’s “Aladdin” cartoon, with good and evil Jasmine characters.
McGuire said students collaborate to write a play. They audition each other and decide who’s in charge of costumes, who directs, who’s on the technical crew. “The skits are a big motivator,” she said. “And the kids gain so much confidence. They look forward to the next performance and ask, ‘What are we gonna do next?’”
What’s next is a May 22 extravaganza that includes performance and art. McGuire’s singers will team up with art teacher Josie Kuhn’s students to present a conference in the auditorium that features live stage performances and big-screen presentations. Following the performance, the audience will be led through a tour in the the gym, where student art will be on display.
McGuire has sent invitations to NEMS’ “feeder” elementary schools so upcoming middle schoolers can get a taste of what’s in store for them. The kids will put on a 10 a.m. show for the school body; parents and guests will be invited to a 2 p.m. show. The program will be free.
The young vocalists have been involved in other musical activities.
McGuire and Stacey Athorn, Edison High School choir director, teamed up three years ago to start the All-District 6-12 Honor Choir Festival. That year, NEMS students sang “Who I Am” by one of McGuire’s former North High students, Wyn Starks. The following year, they performed at Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus. Recently, on Feb. 20, they performed at the U’s Ted Mann Hall.
All of these activities, McGuire said, give the students the experience of belonging to “something bigger than themselves.”
Many of McGuire’s students can’t get involved in after-school activities because they have to catch a bus at the end of the school day. Others’ parents aren’t able to get them back to school for an evening performance.
However, some of McGuire’s singers were involved in a production of “Frozen” sponsored by Project Success and Community Education’s Beacons program, which rehearsed after school. The play was presented Friday and Saturday, March 7 and 8.
McGuire said she’s able to do all of this because she sees her students every day. “It allows me to make fantastic communication with each student. And it gives them so much confidence.”