Fine Arts

Visual Arts

H-B Woodlawn offers different routes for students to explore their creativity through the visual arts.  Those who want to develop their skills, learn new techniques, and explore a variety of media will be interested in the sequential visual arts courses.

Art 1 is a foundations course that will enable all, whether an experienced artist or a novice to gain skills, confidence and understanding of art concepts.   HBW’s curriculum sequence culminates with Advanced Placement Art, an opportunity for seniors to create a body of art work in their own voice.  Whether the student is applying to a post-high school art program or not, the portfolio is a useful addition that supplements and enlivens the college application, along with being a fulfilling experience.

For those students who cannot accommodate the entire visual arts sequence, Painting and Drawing is a course that offers an art experience with a one-year commitment. This course is available to upperclass students who wish to investigate an art concept, subject area or media within a class setting. The new Art History seminar is a student-led  class which investigates art through the ages.  This class offers students opportunities to explore artists of personal interest, visit art museums and become  familiar with the language of visual arts in order to interpret and appreciate arts works of all genres.

Throughout the year, HBW’s art students participate in peer-led critiques of their art work, and have occasion to participate in regional and national competition.  Through this visual art-making, students gain skills in problem-solving, risk-taking, experimentation, time-management and persistence.  At the end of the school year, packing up a portfolio of art works is a very concrete and satisfying way to measure individual growth.

Theatre Arts

Join H-B Woodlawn’s Theatre Arts program! It doesn’t matter if you’re shy or gregarious, have stage experience or not. The H-B Woodlawn theatre program starts with Middle School Theatre Arts classes and progresses through Theatre 1 – Theatre 4 high school classes. While the Middle School Theatre Arts classes focus on creating a shared classroom space in which all are encouraged to share their creative abilities, learn a bit about collaborating in a team, develop stage presence, as well as vocal and physical acting skills, ultimately, the Middle School Theatre Arts classes are meant to be fun! Theatre 1 – 4 classes progress through deepening the student’s understanding of theatre history and theatre’s relevance in our world, introducing and developing vocal and movement skills, creating ensembles, writing and performing in scenes and plays, and directing their peers in theatre works. Students learn best practices in offering peer feedback. For students who enjoy building, design, and other technical domains, Tech Theatre class provides opportunities to learn by designing and creating sets, costumes, sound, lighting, props, and stage makeup for the middle and high school productions. For those who wish to develop leadership skills, the tech theatre class teaches students about the roles of the stage manager and technical director. Student stage managers and tech directors apply the skills they learn in tech theatre class to working on the many student-directed plays through the HBW Theatre. HBW Theatre student directors participate in Director’s Club, a weekly club designed to mentor and support student directors through the process of directing a production.

Instrumental Music

The instrumental music ensembles provide students with a safe and fun environment to work together toward a common aim of making beautiful and meaningful music, while honing and developing musical skills and understanding, and learning how to  collaborate and work on long-term goals. All students are welcome to join our ensembles, whether or not they have any prior playing experience.

In middle school, students can play in the Middle School String Ensemble or the Middle School Concert Band.  Our high school offerings include our two concert bands: Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band, our New Orleans-Style Brass Band/Pep Band, and High School String Orchestra. In addition to performing ensemble classes, we offer Music Theory and AP Music Theory classes, where students can learn how music is written and structured. Our ensembles perform in four concerts each year on campus and participate in clinics and festivals, both locally and on our annual spring music trips.

By developing their craft on their instrument, students learn the valuable lessons of individual practice, collective collaboration, and musical expression from a vast array of styles, time periods, and cultures. By participating in band and orchestra, our students experience a seven-year journey of remarkable growth as musicians and people, engaging in a creative activity that sharpens the mind, enriches the soul, and develops a life-long love of music.

Choral Music

Singing in a chorus can be one of the most gratifying and meaningful experiences.  It is a great way to meet new people, collectively create art, explore a wide variety of music, tap into human emotions, and make lasting memories.  Also, research has proven that singing in a choir improves test scores, decreases stress and helps people to generally feel better.

At H-B Woodlawn everyone has an opportunity to sing, and many do, with over a hundred students singing in a chorus each year!  Our ensembles include the middle school boys and girls choirs, high school concert choirs for women or men, Women’s Camerata and the Chamber Singers, offering students a chance to be in a group at every level and with a range of difficulty.

Through our choral curriculum, students will learn of music ranging from different time periods, cultures and languages, as well as the techniques for vocal production and beautiful singing.  Singers will also learn how to read music, develop greater aural skills and learn topics in music theory.  No experience is necessary, as we come to school to learn.  For those who wish, singers are welcomed to audition for honor choirs at the county, district, state and national level.  Each year the music department takes two trips, one for middle school and the other for high school, to share our music with others, serve as ambassadors of HBW and to explore the great places

Photography

Photography plays a vital role in how we understand our world.  Images, created by photographers, are seen daily on T.V., web sites, in newspapers, and magazines.  Adults and students use their cell phone cameras to document their lives.

Middle School students are interested in exploring strategies to improve their cell phone photos,  learning to use digital cameras and are introduced to PhotoShop tools and photography concepts.  Students may enroll for a semester in 7th grade and 8th grade.