HE

RA

LD

INSIDE• Principal’s Message• Department Updates• Student Services Update

Volume 14 • No. 2Winter 2017

Published Quarterly

Cover art from Sister Cities Exhibit by Jesse Clark

the

Upcoming Performances

Page 2

Feb. 4 Alumni ConcertFeb. 10 Senior Visual Arts Show

at Polk Museum, 6 p.m.Feb. 16 Creative Writing EventFeb. 23 Choral Concert at First

Presbyterian ChurchFeb. 24-26 Salvation Road

2 p.m. on Feb. 26Mar. 10-12 Anything Goes

2 p.m. on March 12Mar. 16 Chamber Concert at FSCApr. 1 Red Carpet GalaApr. 4 Spring Choral ConcertApr. 6 Piano Concert

Principal’sMessage

Daryl Ward, Ph.D.

Greetings HSA Family,

As seems typical these days, time is flying by. As I write this we are well into the third nine-weeks and have just wrapped up auditions for the 2017-18 school year. In regards to those auditions, we had a record turn-out of applications that ended up with us conducting close to 600 auditions in 8 days - we are overjoyed and exhausted! I want to take a few mo-ments and encourage you to join us here at Harrison on Feb. 4 to see our first-in-a-long-time Alumni Concert. This event begins at 7 p.m. and tick-ets are available at www.harrisonarts.com and at the box office. The concert features over twenty different per-formances by Harrison alumni - all with the goal of using their talents to honor their Harrison experiences and to raise money for an Alumni Scholar-ship. I am so pround that our alumni: we have perfromers who graduated twenty years ago in addition to those who graduated two years ago. Their desire to “pay it forward” by helping current Harrison students is inspiring. I also want to use this space to promote a brand new initiative that I’m very excited about: The Harrison Summer Art Experience Scholarship. This program, graciously funded by the Harrison Parents’ Association, will allow Harrison students to access top-tier summer art expereinces - be they camps, workshops, pre-college

programs, etc. As I traveled around the country and talk with my arts-ad-ministrator colleagues, this is one area that I felt Harrison needed to “step it up” in. The premiere art schools around the nation all provide ways for students-in-need to access these sum-mer art programs. I was elated that the HPA agreed that Harrison students deserve these same opportunities. The scholarship application can be found online (www.harrison-arts.com) or in hard-copy format in the main office. The “packet” consists of the application, a teacher recom-mendation letter, and an essay. The primary audience for this scholar-ship is juniors, but sophomores may apply as well. The deadline to ap-ply is February 28 and all applica-tions should be brought to the main office to the attention of Dr. Ward. Again, I’m consistently amazed and humbled by the outpour-ing of parent and community support we have here at Harrison. We will con-tinue to do our best to provide the best arts-education possible to the students of Polk County. I believe in doing so that we will honor our commitment to demonstrating the fine education op-portunities available to all of our stu-dents. I’m especially grateful for all of your continued support!

All performances at 7 p.m. unless otherwise noted.Dates and performances subject to change.Purchase tickets at www.harrisonarts.com

Page 3

Greetings from Visual Arts! On December 16, our freshman class was invited to join renowned neo-

pop artist Romero Britto for breakfast and conversation at Lakeland’s new Brazilian gastropub, Posto9. Some of the students were lucky enough to have their sketchbooks signed and even drawn in by the well-known Brazilian artist. Our partnership with the restaurant began last year when owner Marco Franca asked our department to paint a mural outside the building during construction. Mr. Franca now uses artwork from our mural as part of the restaurant’s publicity and its images can even be seen on the restaurant’s coasters. In January, Harrison once again played host to the annual Sister Cities International Young Artists Showcase. This year’s theme was “We’re Going Places”. Schools from around the city of Lakeland were invited to participate in the show along with work from our Har-rison students. The three winners were from Harrison. They were Estrellita Rodriguez (3rd Place), Allison Kim-sey (2nd Place), and Samantha Segura (1st Place). Most recently, our seniors have been working hard in preparation for their senior showcase. The show-case will be on display at the Polk Museum of Art from January 28 to February 26. There will be an opening re-ception on Friday, February 10 at 6:00 p.m.

Visual Art

Romero Britto discusses his philosophy of creating art with Visual Art students at a special event at Posto 9 in December.

Motion Picture Arts

The Harrison Motion Picture Arts department had a total of ten films screened at the 2016 Wellington

Film Festival in November. One of the films, A Wisp In Time, written and directed by Mary Klein, was a final-ist in the competition! The other nine films accepted were each listed as Honorable Mentions. Those films were Donut Shop Holdup and Landlin” both directed by Will Smith, Say Cheese! directed by Ava Carter, Michael Laurence and We Are Worried About Your Son both directed by Connor Devore, Piece of Cake directed by Hollis Rosenkranz, The Ballad of Billy Creel directed by Noah Hickey, White Walls directed by Taylor Hammersla, and Checkmate directed by Courtney Jones. Several of these films can be viewed at the MPA Showcase coming up on April 21 and 22. In March, MPA students will have the oppor-tunity to travel to Atlanta. The trip will feature sev-eral tours of locations used for films such as Captain America: Civil War, The Hunger Games, Driving Miss Daisy, and The Fast and the Furious.

Chorus

The Choral department is off to a busy and wonderful start to the second semester. In

January, 23 of our students traveled to Tampa to take part in the Florida All-State Choirs and at the end of the month the department participat-ed in the FVA Solo and Ensemble adjudication. Right now, our main focus is the Women’s Chorus performance in March. The choir of 54 will travel to Minneapolis, MN, hopefully play in snow and perform for several thousand choral directors from across the country. This performance opportu-nity was by invitation and we will give a preview of this concert, as well as perform our MPA music, on February 23 at 7:00 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church in Lakeland. All proceeds from the tickets sales will go directly back to our students who are working to raise money for this trip. We would love to have you in attendance to see all we have been working on.

Page 4

The past month in Creative Writing has been a busy one. Our next event, “Poets of Color: A Cel-

ebration of Hip-Hop Poetics,” is fast approaching. Join us on February 16 at 7 p.m. in the Film Theatre for an evening of poetry that, as poet Kevin Coval says in his introduction for 2016’s The BreakBeat Po-ets anthology, represents “a break from the wack. A break from the hidden and precious, the elite and es-teemed. A break from pejorative notions about what

Technical Theatre

Students on the field trip to see Carmen get a backstage tour of the theatre from the director.

Creative Writing

constitutes art, who it’s for and by and why.” On top of planning for the reading, work has begun on the newly rebranded literary magazine, which will now be known as MAGNETIC: a literary journal. Copies of the magazine and a new, student designed depart-ment pocket t-shirt, will be available for pre-order at the reading and will be released at the MAGNETIC launch party on May 2. In other news, the department has also launched it’s website, HSAWRITES, which for the time being can be accessed at http://hsawrites.weebly.com. As of now, the website is being used primarily to promote an ongoing journalism project called “Life After Harrison,” a collection of interviews with Harrison alumni who have remained local and, in one way or another, active in the arts – a sort of “where are they now?” approach. Alumni of all ages have been coming back to campus for sit down interviews with students, the results of which are being presented in a variety of mediums, including audio podcasts, video recordings, photographs, basic Q&A sessions and feature-style writing. As time goes on we will be continuing to add more student-created cross-genre content to the website. A round of applause is in order for junior Ben Garner, whose story “The Dogs of Juventud” was just published in GNU Journal’s Winter issue, making him the youngest contributor they’ve had. Find the issue online here: https://gnujournal.com/2017-gnu-fiction/ We are staying busy but there are always some areas we could use a hand in. If you would like to get involved/help out/show your support for the program, here are a few ways you can do so:

• Do you have an old manual typewriter laying around your house? Consider donating it to us for a future fundraising opportunity. No ink ribbon, no problem.

• Have a business? Maybe you would like to spon-sor MAGNETIC. Contact Mr. Parody by e-mail.

Finally, there is a local event coming up en-titled An Evening of Poetry, Love, and Enlightenment with Nikki Giovanni. The event takes place in Florida Southern College’s Annie Pfeiffer Chapel on Febru-ary 9 at 7 p.m.

The highlight of the year for many of the The-atre Tech students was our overnight field trip

to Miami to see the opera Carmen performed by the Florida Grand Opera. In addition to watching the opera, we were able to meet with the director of production, Kevin Mynatt, who gave us a backstage tour and answered questions along the way. The next day, after breakfast at the trendy Icebox café and a quick trip to the Romero Britto Gallery, we headed home to Lakeland. Back at school, our season really ramped up with departmental performances including a guitar concert, Music of the Season, and the winter dance concerts. We also designed and built scenery for the Polk’s “Teacher and School Related Employee of the Year” banquet held at the Lakeland Center. In addition to all of these events, we also held our annual Masquerade Ball which is a fundraiser for our department. Next on the schedule is the Har-rison Alumni Concert on February 4, followed by the Theatre Department’s production of Salvation Road, and then the Musical Theatre Department’s production of Anything Goes.

After a busy fall semester, the members of the HJO took a well-deserved winter break! We started

2017 with the FMEA Convention in Tampa. Our group was represented by Kyle Rogers and Jackson Jeffares in the All-State Symphonic Band and All-State Jazz Band. Participating in an All-State Band or Orchestra is one of the highest musical honors given in the state and we are very proud of these young men and their participation in this prestigious group! Students from the HJO will begin work on the Musical Theater department’s production of Anything Goes. The show opens the second weekend of March. Our students will also perform at the FBA Concert Band MPA on March 4. Before that, the students will participate in the

FBA District Jazz MPA on February 9 at Winter Ha-ven High School. The students will also participate in the FBA Solo and Ensemble MPA on February 10-11 at Lake Region High School. Each student will perform in either a solo or as a member of a small ensemble. Students not playing and qualifying with solos at FBA S&E will prepare for their juries which will be held later in the semester. Students perform a solo that dem-onstrates his/her musical development. Other upcoming events include the Polk All-County Orchestra on February 3 and the Polk All-County Band on April 7. We are also headed back to perform for the Jazz Lover’s Club at The Villages on April 11 and taking a trip to Port Orange to perform at the Lakeside Jazz Festival on April 21.

The Musical Theatre Department is presenting the classic musical, Anything Goes. The age-old

tale of boy-Meets-girl and the complications which ensue intrigue every audience, and no musical puts it on stage better than Anything Goes. This show is an amusing story wrapped around one of Cole Por-ter’s magical scores which includes “It’s De-Love-ly,” “Friendship,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “All Through the Night,” “Anything Goes,” “You’re the Top,” and “Blow, Gabriel, Blow.” It’s a wonder that all the romances are sorted out and disaster is avert-ed aboard the magical ship where Anything Goes! Performances are March 10 and 11 at 7:00 p.m. and March 12 at 2:00. Tickets will be on sale in February through www.harrisonarts.com. This past fall, guest artist alumni Elizabeth Burton taught master classes in auditioning, dance, and vocal performance. The students grew very fond of Elizabeth’s insightful critiques and guidance as students prepare for upcoming auditions and show-cases. Kerry Mayo also joined us this past fall to help critique and provide workshops for the Fall recital. Other guest artists included Caitlin Pilette, Spencer Croy, and Gayle Ellerbe for dance. Students have performed with the Candlelight Processional at EPCOT and the World Choir performed for the Lakeland Regional Health Volunteers as well as guests at The Polynesian Resort, Lakeland Terrace,

and Coronado Springs Resort. Sophomore students also performed in January at the All-County Theatre adjudication. Besides Anything Goes rehearsals, the se-niors are preparing for their showcase on Friday, May 12 at 7:00 p.m. This showcase is a culmination of their work over the past 3 years and is self-direct-ed and choreographed by the students. The under-classmen will be preparing for their showcase start-ing in March. Based around classwork and student directed performances, the underclassmen showcase will take place on Friday, May 26 at 7:00 p.m. The junior class will be performing at MayFaire on May 13 at 9:00 a.m. in a dance performance collabora-tion with students from the Doris Sanders Learning Center.

Page 5

Musical Theatre

Jazz

The members of the World Choir pose for a picture after one of their holiday performances.

Page 6

Our piano students have been extremely busy through-out the holidays with several school and community

performances playing at visual art receptions, luncheons, and various Christmas programs. In December, the Music of the Season concerts began with a two-piano number written as an assignment for the piano ensemble class in 2009. Two of the original students, Samantha Sokolski (09) and Tyler Campbell (09), returned as part of this en-semble, joined by Shelli Sokolski (10) and Jessica Sokol-ski (17). It was a delightful way to kick off the Christmas season. We are currently beginning preparation for our spring piano concert which will take place on April 6, 7:00 p.m. in the Harrison Theatre. This concert will be a combination of some fun two-piano repertoire and some of your favorite classic solo piano literature. Our senior ensemble class will be closing our concert with a multiple piano arrangement of Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Please mark this date down on your calendar and come enjoy an exciting evening of piano!!! Several of our students are preparing for All-County Piano, which will take place on March 6 at Tenoroc High School. This event is free to the public. All-County Piano is a multiple piano concert for students in middle and high school who are enrolled in a keyboard class. The students have a wonderful time with this event each year. Our department would like to thank Mr. Anthony Scott, from Anthony Scott Images, for taking our depart-mental photos. We appreciate the donation of his time and expertise.

PianoAfter two festive Music of the Season con-

certs and a restful winter holiday, the Har-rison Symphony members started back in Janu-ary with the Florida Music Educators Convention in Tampa. The following HSO members participated in the prestigious All-State Bands and Orchestras at the con-vention: Sophia Jean, Sarah Githens, Connor Altagen, Natalia Garcia, and Tison Savage. Participating in All-State Band, Jazz Band, and Orchestra is one of the highest musical honors given in the state and we are very proud of these students’ achievement! After two fantastic performances last semester, The Harrison Symphony is now hard at work preparing for FOA District Music Per-formance Assessment which is being held at Tenoroc High School on Friday, February 17. Both the Philharmonic and Symphony Orches-tra will be performing. The Wind Symphony will be performing at FBA District Band MPA on Saturday, March 4 at Kathleen High School. That next weekend, many members will be playing in the pit for the Musical Theatre De-partment’s production of Anything Goes featur-ing the music of Cole Porter. Please come out and support your instrumental ensembles! Wind and percussion students are pre-paring solos and ensembles to perform at FBA District S/E MPA – February 10-11 at Lake Region High School. String students are busy preparing for their spring juries which will be held in the orchestra room the first week of April. Students will perform a grade level solo that demonstrates his/her musical development. These solos are recorded each year and are re-viewed with students to provide students exam-ples of their musical growth. Other upcoming events include the Polk All-County Orchestra on February 4 and the Polk All-County Band on April 7. Both events will be held at Florida Southern College. As always, feel free to contact Mr. Lam-bert and Mr. Davis with any questions! Be sure to keep up to date with the monthly calendar.You can also sign up for text message reminders from Remind.com. Type “81010” for the num-ber and type “@hsoorch” in the text space.

Orchestra

The piano students pose for a picture before their Fall Concert.Photo courtesy of Anthony Scott.

Page 7

Theatre

Mark your calendars—the theatre department play is just around the corner! The cast of Salvation

Road is in the final weeks of rehearsal. Nineteen the-atre department students represent-ing all four grade levels will take the stage February 24-26 in the Black Box theatre. The play is written by D.W. Gregory, the playwright of last year’s sold-out Radium Girls. Salvation Road follows the journey of three teens com-mitted to “rescuing” their lost sister and friend who has been taken in by a group that is not what they seem. Sophomores attended the annual All-County

Theatre Festival at Polk State College on January 28, earning three Critics Choice awards! Theatre and Mu-sical Theatre students competed in acting and musi-cal categories. They also attended workshops and an awards ceremony in the evening. Harrison students were outstanding ambassadors for the school both in performance and presence. In March, theatre students will head to the Aso-lo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota to see the play Born Yesterday by Garrison Kanin. The play premiered on Broadway in 1946 starring Judy Holiday, who also starred in the Oscar-winning film adaptation.

The Harrison Dance Department is looking forward to a great spring concert. In addition to new and

exciting works by Mrs. Bourgeois and Ms. Olson, the Harrison Jazz Orchestra will be joining us! Guest art-ist Catherine Batcheller will also be setting a classical ballet piece on our Level III and IV dancers. Ms. Batcheller’s credits include former Dean of Cincinnati Ballet’s Otto M. Budig Academy and over 30 years of experience in the professional world of ballet. She was principal dancer at one of the world’s leading ballet companies, Germany’s Stuttgart Ballet, and also a principal with Birmingham Royal Ballet (England) and San Francisco Ballet. She has per-formed as a guest artist in various countries around the world as well as on Broadway. She has taught ballet all over the country including the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, San Francisco Bal-let, Atlanta Ballet, Boston Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballet, Alberta Ballet, Walnut School for the Arts, Indiana University, Portland Ballet, and American Academy of Ballet, among others. Ms. Batcheller holds an MA from the University of Birmingham, England. We greet her residency with excitement! The Harrison Dance Department will be pre-senting Silent Witness with choreography by Shelley Bourgeois and The Summoning with choreography by Rick McCullough at the Polk All-County Dance Gala on March 11 at 7 p.m. at Davenport School of the Arts. Please plan to attend and celebrate dance in Polk County!

Dance Guitar

Harrison was well represented at FMEA this year with six students participating in the All-State

Guitar Ensemble: Jacob Bowen (12), John Butz (12), Cameron Clark (12 - Jazz Dept.), Maxwell Hedman (12), Coleman Ellis (11), and Stephaney Quintero-Andrade (10). This was the fourth All-State Guitar appearance for all 4 seniors. This year’s Solo & Ensemble MPA was a re-sounding success with the follow-ing students receiving solo ratings of Superior with Distinction: John Butz, Max Hedman, Kelsey Roubal, Alex Shadood, Tyler Thompson, Jessie Thurman, Nick Wood. The following students re-ceived a Superior solo rating: Jake Bowen, Coleman Ellis, Camille Hagins, James Halman, Isaiah Ingram, Ruben Lopez, Webb Olson, Stephaney Quintero-An-drade, Sebastian Rodriguez- Borysek, Ryan Yassen. Aeolian (Jake Bowen, John Butz, Coleman Ellis, Max Hedman, Webb Olson, and Stephanie Quintero-Andrade) received a Superior rating, as did Con Brio (James Halman, Isaiah Ingram, and Sebas-tian Rodriguez-Borysek). Please make plans now to join us for our up-coming concerts. Our Spring Guitar Concert will take place on Tuesday, April 11 at 7 p.m. Also, Retrograde (the Harrison Guitar Quartet) will perform in the Film Theatre on Tuesday, April 25.

Page 8

Celebrate National School Counseling Week! February 6 – 10: In recognizing the school counselor’s role in postsecondary readiness, Mrs. Chambers and Mrs. Jackson will be providing a number of activities this week. Junior parent conferences will take place throughout the week, along with a social media blitz through email, Remind, Twitter and Facebook. Specific events include:

Monday, February 6 - Students, join us at 2:45 p.m. in the Harrison Theatre for “The Great Sorting Game” – an enjoyable mock-admissions simulation. (Will take place immediately following the NHS meeting).

Tuesday, February 7 – Parents, it is now your turn! As part of the HPA General Meeting, which begins at 7:00 p.m. in the MPA Mini Theatre, join us for “The Great Sorting Game”.

Friday, February 10 – We are encouraging faculty, staff and students to show college pride and awareness by wearing your favorite college t-shirt or jersey.

Junior Conferences for Students and Parents: The conferences are being held in small groups by departments from February 6 – 13. Thank you, parents, for making your participation a priority. Please remember to review the items shared in the conference and prioritize tasks to make the most of the remainder of your junior year.

Junior Class Registration: Junior registration will take place sometime in March through Harrison classes. Juniors will want to bring their course planning sheet from the junior conference as a reference.

Sophomore Resume Building Activity: In late January, Mrs. Chambers and Mrs. Jackson went into the Harrison sophomore classes and walked the students through a resume building activity. Students were give a rubric and were asked to submit their resumes through Google Docs.

Sophomore Class Conferences: Sophomore conferences will take place sometime in March through Harrison classes. Students will review their scholastic records, graduation requirements, complete course registration for the 2017-18 school year and develop/update their 4-year plan. Students will have copies available to bring home and share with parents.

Freshmen Class Conferences: Freshmen conferences will take place sometime in March through Harrison classes. Students will review their scholastic records, graduation requirements, complete course registration for the 2017-18 school year and develop their 4-year plan. Students will have copies available to bring home and share with parents.

Email System: All parents and students are encouraged to join our email system. This allows you to stay up-to-date with the latest happenings at Harrison. To register, go to www.harrisonarts.com and click on “Email Sign Up” on the home page. This is a separate email system than your departmental email listserv.

Portal: The Parent and Student Portals are available for keeping up-to-date with student grades and attendance. For information, please contact our Network Manager, Mrs. Moroney at Karen.Moroney@polk-fl.net.

Scholarship Bulletin: Updated monthly and available via our website, sent via our email system, and posted in each Harrison classroom. Scholarships are available for students in grades 9-12.

Community Service Hours: Harrison students, grades 9-12, must have all community service hours documented and submitted via the online Google Doc, found at www.harrisonarts.com, by May 1, 2017. It is recommended that students keep record of their specific hours prior to submitting. Please contact Mrs. Moroney, community service coordinator, at Karen.Moroney@polk-fl.net for assistance.

Underclassmen Awards: Tuesday, May 16 in the Harrison Theatre, Freshmen at 6:00 p.m.; Sophomores/Juniors at 7:30 p.m.

Student Services Update