A L A B A M A S C H O O L O F F I N E A R T S N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 3

Later in the month, theASFADanceDepartment will present Soul of Novemberat 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22, and Saturday,Nov. 23, and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 23.Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 fornon-ASFA students. From Bach’s famousBrandenburg Concerto, Tchaikovsky’sfamily favorite The Nutcracker, an on tovarious compositions by Lou Harrison, theASFADance Department is working hard tobring a stunning performance.

Audience members will fall in love withdance and the technical form of choreographyin this show that includes classical balletand modern works and new choreographiesby Dance Department Chair David Keenerand Dance faculty members Martha Faesiand Teri Weksler.

Faesi and Keener are working together torestage the divertissement from the secondact of the The Nutcracker.

with the sounds of theASFAOrchestra,Jazz Ensemble and Choir as they performtimeless classics and some of the mostpopular works by composers such asJohann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig vanBeethoven and Stevie Wonder.

“Bach to the Future is a concert full ofmelodies familiar and unfamiliar, and it willleave a mark on your musical memory foryears to come!” said Music DepartmentChair Kim Scott.

The event will include music from thesoundtrack of the musical film Chicago,Beethoven’s 6th Symphony “Pastoral”, andElgar’s “Peer Gynt Suite, No. 1” from theplay Peer Gynt. Also, get ready to hearworks by Jazz musicians Chuck Mangione,Stevie Wonder, John Coltrane, WalterDonaldson and Michael Legrand. TheASFAChoir will perform works by Italian composerGioacchino Rossini, George Frideric Handeland Bach.

NovemberEventsat ASFANovember is a month for literature, musicand dance as three of ASFA’s specialtydepartments gear up for exciting events.The Creative Writing Department kicks offthe month with its annual Ron CaseyAuthorSeries at 7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 1, in theCreative Writing Lecture Hall.

Brad Watson, a fiction writer and professorfrom the University of Wyoming, is thefeatured guest. Watson is the author ofthree books and was a finalist for the 2002National BookAward in Fiction. In 2004 hereceived a fellowship from the NationalEndowment for theArts. "Southern story-telling is alive and well in Watson's capablehands," according to Kirkus Book Reviews.

The Ron CaseyAuthor Series honors thelegacy of Ron Casey, former editorial pageeditor of The Birmingham News and atalented and gifted writer. At the time of hisdeath in February 2000, Casey was servingonASFA’s Creative Writing AdvisoryCommittee. During his time at The News,Casey led an editorial team that analyzedthe need for Alabama tax reform, resultingin a series of editorials that won the paper’sfirst Pulitzer Prize in 1991. TheAuthorSeries is the result of a perpetual fundestablished in 2009 with theASFAFoundationin memory of Casey by his wife MargieBrooke. The reading is free and open to thepublic, and a reception will follow in theschool lobby.

TheASFAMusic Department will present aconcert called Bach to the Future on Friday,Nov. 8, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 foradults and $5 for non-ASFA students.

Audience members will travel through time

a auSePPl“public education

with passion”

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LOOKFORUSONFACEBOOK!

CHRISTOPHER PAULCURTISINSPIRESASFASTUDENTSTheWriteThing:

Celebrated and award-winningchildren's author Christopher PaulCurtis spoke with ASFA's CreativeWriting Department students inOctober about his experience as awriter and encouraged them to reachfor their dreams.

"Not many people get a chance to dowhat they really want to do," Curtis toldthe young audience. "Now I am doingsomething I enjoy doing. It's a careerthat I highly recommend to those whowant it."

Curtis is the author of seven children'sbooks and winner of two NewberyMedals, which is the most prestigiousaward for children's literature in theUnited States. The awards came forhis first novel The Watsons GoBirmingham-1963 and later for hisbook about an orphaned boy growingup in the Great Depression entitledBud, Not Buddy.

Curtis spent a week in Birmingham inOctober as part of the eventssurrounding the 50th anniversary of

the Civil Rights Movement. He also spoketo more than 400 students from aroundthe state in ASFA's Dorothy Jemison DayTheater about the importance of reading.The event was made possible byAlabama Public Television.

In the afternoon writing session, Curtistold students of the time he spent workingon an auto industry assembly line inDetroit and how he turned to writing as ameans of escape.

"Writing saved my life when I was in thatfactory," he said. "It made time go byquickly and gave me a way to expressmy anger." Curtis later when on to receivehis college degree in political science,but writing has always been his passion,he said.

"The creative process is a verymysterious thing. I think as writers we areall insecure but very observant people,"

Both The Watsons and Bud, Not Buddyhave sold more than 3 million copies, andhe urged the ASFA students to find waysto tell their own stories.

"You have to write out of love for thecraft," he said. "You must write foryourself and for the love of writing."

Applause, Vol. 27, issue 3

was generously printed by

Alabama Power Corporation

Jaronda Little, Editor205.252.9241

jlittle@asfa.k12.al.us

Peggi Davis, Art Director

It is the policy of ASFA not to discriminateon the basis of sex, race, religion,

color, creed, national origin, sexual orientationor any other proscribed category,

in its educational programs, activities oremployment policies as required by local,state, and federal policies and laws.Inquiries or complaints regardingcompliance with applicable lawsor ths policy may be directed to

Dr. Michael Meeks atmmeeks@asfa.k12.al.us.

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ASFA INDUCTS 19 STUDENTSTOMATH HONOR SOCIETYAddedHonors:

MATHSCIENCEDEPARTMENTHONORSDR.MICHAELJ. FRONING

If you would like to contribute, pleaseemail your memories and photos tohchin@asfa.k12.al.us orvlugemwa@asfa.k12.al.usby November 4, 2013.

Congratulations to the 19 studentswho were recently inducted intoASFA's chapter of Mu Alpha Theta,a national math honor society, whichrecognizes students with highachievement and ability. Based ontheir academic success from lastschool year, the students werehonored at a special ceremony oncampus Sept. 26.

Each member has maintained an 88average or higher in math classes since9th grade, completed Honors Algebra IIand Pre-Calculus and taken at least onemath class beyond that level.

Those inducted into Mu Alpha Thetathis year are as follows:

Sophomores: Katherine Hughes,Dmitriy Antselevich

Juniors: Colby Hollman, DansbyBenedict, Ayala Abrams, SameeraGrandhi, Janan Jaraysi, Sruti Josyula,Katlin Minor, Imari Nalls, Ngan KimNguyen, Monica Pasala, JasminRevanna, Priya Shah

Seniors: Jeremia Muhia, AyakaYoshikawa, Lita Waggoner, JessicaOrcutt, and Ben Klein

In recognition of Dr. Michael J. Froning,who passed away in Spring 2013, theMath/Science Department has set up aneasy way for graduates and students ofthe Russell Mathematics and ScienceCenter to honor his memory. To make atax-deductible donation, please go toDONATE TODAY on the home page ofthis website. Scroll down to the "MichaelFroning Memorial" to donate. Or mail yourdonation to Leigh Horsley at the ASFAFoundation, 1800 Rev. Abraham Woods,Jr. Blvd, Birmingham, AL 35203.

The MICHAEL J. FRONING MEMORIALFUND benefits the Michael J. FroningScholars currently attending the RussellMathematics and Science Center. Anyonedirectly or indirectly influenced by hisleadership, vision and dedication will helppass on this remarkable legacy.

MEMORIES AND PHOTOGRAPHS arebeing compiled of Dr. Froning for hisfamily.

TRIP TO FRANCEPLANNED FOR 2015!Information about a trip to France(including itinerary, tentative dates, costand payment plan) is available athttp://portal.sliderocket.com/WorldStrides/VIE-LinchetThis site will direct you to enrollmentmaterial and the company website.You don’t have to be a French studentto sign up and parents are welcome.Feel free to contact Madame Linchetat dlinchet@asfa.k12.al.usif you have questions.

2013 MAD DAYMAKES A DIFFERENCEOn a recent beautiful October day, more than300ASFAstudents, faculty and staff pouredinto the community for the school's eighthannual Make a Difference (MAD) Day. Theschool expanded its reach this year and helpedat nine sites across the city and county.

This year, students helped place a roofon a Habitat for Humanity Home and helpedprepare the house for painting in Birmingham'sWest End community. Some students spentnearly three hours clearing trash and pullingweeds from along the shore of the CahabaRiver.

Once again students also helped dig drainageculverts and helped clean parts of the historicOak Hill cemetery in downtown Birmingham.Other students helped paint a mural atFirst Presbyterian Church in the children'sclassroom area and still others volunteeredwith a cleanup project in historic KellyIngram Park.

ASFAstudents also collected four boxesof canned goods for a week and donated themto the Collat Jewish Family Services FoodCloset.

Teachers P.J. Godwin, Maria Marino, LindaWenndt and 15ASFAstudents ledexperiments about light and sound to twosecond grade classrooms at ValleyElementary School in Pelham.

The tiny students made and took homekaleidoscopes and "duck calls." Both projectstied into topics the second graders had justfinished studying. ASFAstudents also sat andlistened to some of the young readers read tothem individually.

Another group of 20 students volunteered atthe McWane Center by helping with sciencedemonstrations for incoming patrons.

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OneDayCanChangeaLife

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A small group of ASFAstudents along withteachers walked to the nearby BirminghamMuseum ofArt and spent their dayshoveling rock and pulling weeds to beautifythe exterior of the museum.

"It's always good to help a neighbor,"said Will Marble, MAD Day Coordinator and

OneLifeCanChangethe

WorldHealth &Wellness Coordinator.

A tiny crew remained behind at schooland took advantage of the time to help cleanthe building while most everyone was away.They cleaned classrooms and washed doors.

"Students always get a better understandingof what it takes to keep this place looking goodafter they help cleanASFAup!" Marble added.

ReadySetGo:

Congratulations to Visual Arts Departmentninth grader Cameron Grier-Shepperd,whose art work has been selected to beplaced on display at the BirminghamChildren’s Theatre. The Children’s Theatrepresented 23 performances of the playThe Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 to18,000 people over the course of threeweeks in October. Cameron’s artworkdepicting the young girls killed in the 1963bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Churchwas selected for display in the lobby of thetheater as patrons entered.

“I’ve always told him the bombing was atragic ending, but it changed things andbrought about a new beginning,” saidCameron’s grandmother Teresa Shepperd,who has worked for 24 years as the SchoolsGroup Coordinator at the BirminghamChildren’s Theatre and commissionedCameron’s work.

By Dina MarbleASFA Counselor grades 8, 10 & 12

Who’s ready for college and/or work afterhigh school? That is what the AlabamaState Department of Education hopes tolearn as they roll out their new ACT Collegeand Career-Ready Assessment System(CCRAS). It’s a brand new assessmentprogram, and it is in full swing in Alabamaand right here at ASFA.

Alabama has been hard at work developinga longitudinal data system to ensure ourstudents are prepared for college and workin the 21st century. It’s designed to closelymonitor students’ performance at everystage. In our case it starts in 7th grade andtakes us all the way through high school.This longitudinal data system enables ourteachers to identify students who are inneed of academic interventions early onthus giving teachers and students more timeto strengthen these skills before graduationensuring each student masters theknowledge and skills necessary to succeedafter high school.

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STANDARDIZED TESTING:WHO’S READY?

So what does it look like? Each gradeexcept 9th will take a standardizedtest that is part of ACT’s College andCareer-Ready Assessment System.Each one of these assessments canbe compared to the others to show astudent’s progress over time. Nomore just comparing students to thenational average. Now we cancompare students to themselves

focusing on individual progressand determining what is needed tohelp each student meet crucialbenchmarks.

For more information go to:http://www.alsde.edu/home/general/alccs.aspx

Here are the tests and dates:

CAMERON GRIER-SHEPPERD’S ART WORK PLACED ON DISPLAY

GRADE

7th

7th

8th

8th

10th

11th

12th

TEST

AL Science Assessment

ACT Aspire

ACT Aspire

ACT EXPLORE

ACT PLAN

ACT plus writing

ACT Work Keys

DATE

April 29, 2014

May 5-6, 2014

May 5-6, 2014

October 23, 2013

October 23, 2013

April 23, 2013

Beginning 2014-15 school year

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TV One on Oct. 11. Promoters say anew season is in the works.

Since being on a national televisionnetwork, 17-year-old actress andsinger has been in high demand. InSeptember, she performed thenational anthem at the WNBAAtlantaDream vs. LA Sparks game and againwhile the UniverSoul Circus was inBirmingham.

In just two seasons, on The RickeySmiley Show, Ajiona Alexus Brownhas become well recognized for herrole as DeAnna, Rickey Smiley's onlydaughter, but the spotlight is growingeven brighter for this emerging youngactress and singer.

“I've learned so much working withDirector Roger Bobb and theBobbcat film team,” Ajiona said.“They have allowed me the freedomto have fun with my character and becreative. I also love working on setwith my fellow cast members. We aretruly one big happy family. I can't waitfor season 3!"

The Rickey Smiley Show is a sitcomloosely based on the real-lifeexperience of comedian and radiopersonality Rickey Smiley. Theseason finale aired on cable station

MAVIS SCULLY JOINSASFA’S THEATREARTS DEPARTMENTThe ASFA Theater Department welcomedMavis Scully as its newest faculty memberin September. Scully is originally fromKentucky and is an experienced dancerand actress who is teaching acting andmovement classes at ASFA. She alsocoaches Theatre Arts students on scenesand monologues.

Scully has been an instructor at theChildren’s Dance Foundation and AlabamaShakespeare Festival Summer Intensivewhere she taught some of our students, somany around ASFA may already know her.

Recently, Scully has spent the past severalweeks working with the TheatreDepartment’s Artistic Director JonathanFuller on getting students ready for theOctober production of The Escapades ofScaramouche. Scully replaces ASFATheatre Coach Tommy Canary, who passedaway in August.

StagedEvents: SCULLY & BROWN INASFA’S SPOTLIGHT

AJIONAALEXUS COMPLETES SEASON 2 OF THE RICKEY SMILEY SHOW

ASFA FALL 2013& SPRING 2014PERFORMANCESCHEDULEIS ONLINE ATWWW.ASFA.K12.AL.US

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Congratulations to many of ASFA’s alumsthat are making marks in their specialtyareas:

Visual Arts Department graduate MoriahOsborn (2002) was featured in aSeptember issue of the BirminghamBusiness Journal, highlighting her new job.Osborn has been named interfacedeveloper at Intermark Group, a localmarketing and advertising firm with officesalso in LosAngeles, Denver, Oklahoma Cityand Dallas.

Osborn previously worked with AspiraNetworks, but now will be designing andcoding websites.

Dance Department graduate KatherineFiles (2011) has been cast in Alvin AileyAmerican Dance Theater’s production ofMemoria. The company’s New York seasonruns Dec. 5 – Jan. 5. Files is now in herjunior year and studying dance at FordhamUniversity in New York City.

Creative Writing Departmentgraduate Hannah Aizenman(2008) recently won the BlackWarrior Review’s poetry contest.Each winner will receive a $1,000prize and their work will bepublished in an upcoming issue ofThe Black Warrior Review.

The Black Warrior Review (BWR) isa nationally distributed and well-respected literary magazine basedat the University of Alabama. Workappearing in BWR has beenanthologized in the Pushcart Prizecollection, The Best American ShortStories (2009), Best AmericanPoetry, New Stories from the South.Writer's Digest has named BWR asone of 19 "magazines that matter."

Hannah won for her poem entitled“History, or Umbilicus.” Poetry judgeKate Durbin wrote:“History, or Umbilicus” turns the

geography of the poem into thebody of a girl. The girl, of course,is a problem, her place in his-storyboth bounded and uncertain. Theproblem of the girl is a deadweight, like the weights they usedto tie to alleged witches in earlyAmerica, to then throw them intothe lake, or like that of an umbilicalcord, magical talisman, which bothsustains life and strangles it.“History, or Umbilicus” tellsher-story of either/or, girl as cave,hole, mouth, grave. Her-story couldbe a doomed love tale, or the echoof a dead girl who will never beborn. While reading, thesepossibilities (and more) lodgedunder my skin, and I am haunted.”

Hannah graduated from theUniversity of Alabama and is nowin her first semester of the MFAprogram in poetry at New YorkUniversity.

ALABAMA SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS 1800 Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. Blvd. Birmingham, AL 35203 (205) 252-9241 www.asfa.k12.al.us

ASFAlums: NEWSWORTHYALUMNI PRIZES,PROMOTIONSAND PRODUCTIONS

SILVER SPONSORSCatherine & Bill Cabaniss

Stephen ChazenEBSCO Industries, Inc.Lisa & Rad Gaines

B.L. Harbert, InternationalBarbara Hirschowitz

Luckie & CoJames M. Pool

Publix Super Market Charities

November 15 is quickly approachingand is the final date to purchaseseries tickets for ASFA’s newentertainment venture known as“Friday Night Lights.” The excitementand anticipation is growing for theperformance series that promisessomething different and new indowntown Birmingham. For only $50subscribers can attend two exclusivecocktail receptions, two music concerts,a theater production and a danceperformance over the course of fivemonths.The receptions will beheld at Chris Dupont’s Mix Restaurant,and free shuttle service will takeguests to and from the performances atASFA’s Dorothy Jemison Day Theater.

NOVEMBER 15 IS DEADLINE FOR “FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS” TICKETS

FridayNightLightsTicketsCall 490-2345 orwww.djdtheater.org

Tickets are available online now atwww.djdtheater.org, the ASFA websiteor by calling 205.490.2345.

A special thank you to the following:

SERIES PRESENTERMs. Patty McDonald

PLATINUM PARTNERS

GOLD SPONSORSAL.com/The Birmingham NewsBirmingham Investment Group

Southeastern Outings