Amy Jent, Linda Raya, Marta Gott

HPHS Assistant Principal of Academic Affairs & Assessment Marta Gott received the Friend of HP Arts Award for her behind the scenes support of the arts. 

The HP Arts Board welcomed the HPISD Fine Arts faculty and administration to a reception in their honor at the home of Wendy and Richard Kumpf. The house was filled with student artwork representing kindergarten through high school. The Highlander Strings ensemble provided the music, and the doors were all open to enjoy the unseasonably warm January weather.

Paul Doucet, Dina Jones Steele, Susan McCormick, Dr. Laurie Hitzelberger

Each year, a student's artwork is chosen to grace the cover of the invitation, and this year's invitation featured Bradfield's Joshua Rubin's artwork of aspen trees. The artwork was on prominent display and greeted guests as they entered.

Joshua Rubin with Impressionist Aspen Trees

HP Arts President Amy Jent thanked those in attendance for the multitude of ways the Fine Arts faculty, at every campus, inspire and encourage the very best in all disciplines of art, music, literature and performance. Linda Raya, HPISD Coordinator of Fine Arts and faculty representative to the HP Arts board, was most gracious in pointing out that HP Arts touches every student at every campus in a myriad of ways and what an invaluable and generous partner they have been in keeping the arts alive and well at HPISD campuses for almost 30 years.

Dance I Students Learn Dances from Around the World 

The week before Thanksgiving had the Dance I classes with Emily Sanchez going around the world for instruction and inspiration. Pictured are HPHS students in grades 9-12 learning the northern Indian style of dance known as "Bollywood." Sarita Venkataraman was invited by Ms. Sanchez to teach for the day and helped students understand this style of dance unique to the country of India and its cinema. The students enjoyed four additional days of the dance styles of West Africa accompanied by drums, the highland dances of Scotland, fan dancing from China, and Spanish flamenco. This is the fifth year HP Arts has sponsored these visiting instructors, enriching the dance experience of these first year dance students.  

HPHS Art Students Advance to State Competition   

HP Arts supported the Art department with the purchase of drying racks for 2-D work and a Dell color multifunction laser printer. Additionally, a visit from Even Stone, a copyright lawyer, who provided professional insight into the protection of their craft, was made possible through HP Arts.

Griffin Powell, Anna Fain, Finn Jent, Sarah Walker, Alex Novak, Elle Meneghetti

HPHS art students participated in the state Visual Arts Scholastic Event art competition in April. HP had seven works of art advance to the state level. Each year there are more than 28,000 entries at the regional level, and 1,600 of those advance to state. HP students advancing to the state competition include:

• Alex Novak, two medals
• Griffin Powell
• Elle Meneghetti
• Finn Jent
• Sarah Walker
• Hannah Fain

Academic Decathlon Team Advanced to National Meet for the First Time   

 

Five decathletes represented HPHS at the National Academic Decathlon meet in April in Garden Grove, Calif. (The results of the State Ac-Dec Meet can be found here.) HP Arts was pleased to play a role in the success of the Ac-Dec team this year through materials funding. It was the first time ever for the Scots to advance to the national meet, and of the 90 medals awarded to decathletes representing 33 states, China, and the United Kingdom, HP earned 8 of them: 

• Captain David Wiegn placed third in Honors Art and scored 8,243 points overall.
• State Scholastic overall champion Rousha Nikbeh earned a silver medal in Social Science and bronze in both Art and Science. She broke the 8,000 point mark with a score of 8,129.
• Alex Gerrese brought home silver in Social Science and bronze in Speech and was HP's top-scoring decathlete with an overall score of 8,350.
• Becky Jenkins captured silver in Music and Science and scored 7,800 points overall.
• Stephen Chambers scored 6,893 points.

The HPHS Lassies, the varsity women's choir, was invited by the Texas Music Educators Association (TMEA) to perform in concert at the 2015 TMEA State Convention in February. This is the first invitation for HPHS since 1994. 

Each year, hundreds of high school choir recordings are submitted to a committee that listens for musical excellence, high levels of artistry and passionate singing. The committee then selects seven to eight high school choirs to perform at the TMEA convention.  

In support of this tremendous honor, HP Arts support provided an accompanist for rehearsals in preparation of the performance. 

Mallory McMinn   

I have been a part of the Fine Arts program throughout middle school and high school. I am a twirler, play the clarinet, and love studio art. My freshman year, I took Drawing I, as a filler class, something easy to add to my day. I did not realize that I would come to love art so much. I was not great at drawing, but I talked with my teacher and he told me about the Ceramics class that I could take my junior year. 

When junior year arrived, I was in Ceramics and ready to learn. It was there that I found my true passion - studio design and clay. I had a fantastic year and made so many new projects. I ended up being a helper for other kids in the class who had trouble working with the material. The end of the year was approaching and I knew I definitely wanted to take another art class, however, I wasn't sure what class would allow me to continue working with the same material. My art teacher suggested a very challenging class, AP 3D Design.

McMinn had a ceramic design featured in the Highlander Festival Art Show.

This class was unlike any other class I have taken; the work was intensive and I was required to make pieces in mass quantity. For the AP exam at the end of the year, I had eight pieces of Breadth (or mixed art of my choice) and 12 pieces of Concentration (pieces having to do with a certain theme or idea). I was overwhelmed and sometimes I wished I hadn't taken that class, but I found that this was something that I wanted to continue throughout my life and not just as a hobby. I decided I wanted to earn an art degree. I really can't imagine what the past four years would have been like without the fun and inspiration of my art teachers or my art classes.

Art has helped me define myself and has helped guide me in what I want to do in my future. This coming fall I will attend Southern Methodist University, majoring in Studio Design and minoring in Botany.   

My love of the arts, especially theater, began in sixth grade when I was told, "No" during "Music Man Jr." rehearsals. I wanted to help backstage, but had to wait a year. By the end of 8th grade, I was hooked on Technical Theater.  

My freshman year was difficult. At the time, freshmen took Theater I and did not work backstage. I felt lost and my grades suffered. Beginning in my sophomore year, I was active in Technical Theater and joined the Highlander Band where I was in the color guard and played euphonium in the spring during concert season. My grades improved!  

The fine arts have given me my best self. I am more adventurous for my fine arts experiences. During my high school years, I have taken ballet and Broadway dance classes and spent a summer traveling the country with the Crossmen, a World Class Drum Corps. I was honored to perform the Drum Dance during Senior Night last fall. I took Art I as a senior where I had my first project, a clay sculpture, selected for the Highlander Festival. You can see it in the town of Highland Park's library.

In college, I will major in Theater Arts, with plans to be a set designer, and then get my masters in fine arts after a few years of work experience. Thank you, HP Arts, for everything you do to support the arts at Highland Park High School and throughout the district. The arts have changed my life for the better! 

The Fort Worth Opera  

Students in 2nd & 3rd grade at Armstrong, Hyer and UP Elementary, enjoyed a visit from the Fort Worth Opera. The students were enthusiastic in their participation as they helped in the telling of "The Ugly Duckling" (Hyer and UP) and "Billy Goats Gruff" (Armstrong).

Executive Committee

President - Amy Jent

Vice President - Polly McKeithen

Secretary - Bebe Triplett

Treasurer - Renee Hansford

Programs Chair - Ashley Meece

Publicity Chair - Wylly Goodson

Committee Chairs

Arrangements - Tish Key

Artisan - Susan Sommers

Community Outreach - Sarah Clark

Membership - Katherine Schultz and Beth Susens

Play-It-Again-Sam - Rebeca Peterman

Publicity Assistants - Jennifer McIlyar and Julie Smith

Special Events - Pam Adams and Wendy Kumpf

Student Art Coordinator - Reva Knight Henderson

Take-A-Seat - Brandi Sarfatis

Website - Christy Gehlbach

Programs Committee - School Representatives

Armstrong - Kathy Gameros

Bradfield - Beth Newton

Hyer - Rachel Blaylock

UP - Dana Manley

HPMS/MIS - Tracy Bundy

HPHS - Karen Walters