Eleven outstanding music students from Westport’s Staples High School are among those selected to participate today in the 2010 Connecticut Music Educators Association Western Region Music Festival in New Canaan. The students were selected from more than 1,200 students from 26 high schools who auditioned from throughout western Connecticut for the honor of participating in the Western Region Band, Chorus, Orchestra and Jazz Ensemble under the direction of nationally renowned conductors. The music students chosen to participate are: (back row, l-r), Ben Freeman, John Solder, Jason Lustbader, Cameron Bruce, Curtis Chen, Alan Southworth, and Dan Zlatkin; (front row) Adele Shenoy, Karen Lively, Carolyn Chen, and Michelle Mastrianni. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Contributed photo
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EPA Cites Westport Schools for Air Quality Work
The Westport public school system was one of 10 districts and individuals honored today for leading the way to prevent and solve indoor air quality problems.
The Westport schools were cited at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 10th Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools National Symposium in Washington, D.C.
The EPA created the Tools for Schools program a decade ago to address a range of indoor air quality and related problems in school buildings.
These include respiratory problems, headaches and nausea, and what the EPA said was “an alarming rise” in asthma and allergies among schoolchildren.
Spreading the News
The King’s Highway Elementary School Chorus, made up of 85 fourth and fifth grade students, performed “Chester the Cricket,” based on the award-winning children’s book by George Seldon, “Cricket in Times Square.” This week’s performance was co-directed by Music Director Sarah Guterman and Barbara Masonpierre. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Lauretta Carl for WestportNow.com
Internet Safety Workshops Set for Parents Next Month
The Westport public schools are offering Internet safety workshops for parents next month.
“The rapidly evolving nature of technology presents parents with numerous challenges in supervising their children’s Internet use,” Schools Superintendent Elliott Landon said in an e-mail message to parents.
“Given the increasingly interwoven complexity of the Internet in our lives and its increasing accessibility from remote locations, the need to talk to your child about appropriate Internet use and boundaries is more important than ever.
“To help you navigate these challenges, the Westport Public Schools and the Westport PTA Council have once again partnered to conduct Internet safety workshops for parents.
Superintendent Seeks 2.9% Education Budget Increase
UPDATE Westport Schools Superintendent of Schools Elliott Landon tonight presented a proposed 2010-11 operating budget that is 2.9 percent over this year’s budget.
Elliott Landon: Did not restore this year’s cuts. Dave Matlow/WN file photo
“It is a sound budget that is fiscally prudent, fiscally responsible, and educationally appropriate,” Landon said in a memo to the Board of Education.
Landon told a board meeting the $97.3 million proposal was an austere budget and did not restore anything cut in this year’s budget, which was just an 0.5 percent increase over the previous year.
He said these cuts, which included elimination of music lessons at Staples High School, paraprofessional positions at elementary libraries, and fourth grade paraprofessionals, had “a significant impact.”
Candlelight Concert: The TV View
The Staples Television Network (STN) Cablevision Channel 78 tonight broadcast the final performance of the 69th annual Staples High School Candlelight Concert, the first live broadcast of the event. This is how viewers saw the closing number, Handel’s “The Messiah,” in which Staples alumni joined the performers on stage. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo
Candlelight Concert Broadcast and Streamed on Internet
Tonight’s closing performance of the 69th annual Staples High School Candlelight Concert—postponed from Saturday because of the weather—was broadcast live on the Staples Television Network (STN) Cablevision Channel 78 and streamed on the Internet, historic firsts for the popular holiday event. This is how Internet users saw it. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo
Staples Opens 69th Annual Candlelight Concert
UPDATE It was opening night tonight for the Staples High School Candlelight Concert, the 69th annual rendition of what has become a Westport tradition. Two more performances scheduled for Saturday night will take place Sunday at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. because of the weather. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Lynn U. Miller for WestportNow.com
“Doest Thou Remember?…” The Processional
Anyone who has ever attended the Staples Candlelight Concert is apt to remember these opening words to the hauntingly beautiful “Sing We Noel,” a 16th century French carol. Accompanied by the Freshman Chorus and Chorale and the Symphonic Orchestra, members of the Staples A Cappella Choir entered the auditorium wearing their traditional blue robes, holding candle lights and singing “Sing We Noel.” (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Lynn U. Miller for WestportNow.com
A New Number
The A Cappella Choir, comprised of some of Staples High School’s most elite and talented singers, tonight presented a crowd-pleasing number, an African Christmas carol, never before performed at a Candlelight Concert. They were accompanied by (l-r ) Max Stampa-Brown, a senior, and Tommy Burchill, a sophomore. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Lynn U. Miller for WestportNow.com
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