ACMA Graduation 2012

  

June 9, 2012. Graduation Day. A red letter day for Sarah, and, indeed our whole family. We arrived at the school Sarah had attended for the last seven years, aware that this would be our last visit. It was a bittersweet moment, filled with pride and wistfulness. 

 

Tickets were in high demand, as the PAC has limited seating, and space was at a premium.

The ceremony began with ACMA's traditional bagpipe processional.



Speakers were many, and included Theresa Reiser, the student body president; student honoree Dominic Paul; staff honoree, Math teacher and new dad, Mr. Bertram; Valedictorian Caroline MacDonald; and Mr. Johnson, ACMA's principal. Beaverton's new Superintendent, Jeff Rose, was present, seemed impressed (and a bit confused at times, with some of ACMA's graduation traditions) and offered a few words of support to the graduates, as well.



As one would expect of a performing arts school, there were numerous performances - classical orchestra, jazz band, combined orchestras, advanced vocal ensemble, and a student band who auditioned for the honor of performing at Graduation -  all adding to our pride in the talent this school has produced. The lobby area displayed visual works by this year's seniors, Sarah included.

Finally, all formalities, speakers, and musical entertainment aside, the moment we'd been waiting for - the awarding of diplomas! - arrived. The ceremony was impressively well-rehearsed and, finally, Sarah strode across the stage with great confidence. It truly was a proud moment for us to see her in her cap and gown, three cords around her neck, accepting her diploma. She also received two Pathway Endorsements, one in Drawing and Painting,  the other in Ceramics and Sculpture - much like a double major.  Only a dozen or so could claim that accomplishment. Well done, Sarah!

     

Cake and punch were served in the lobby, and flashes filled the area as pictures with family, teachers and friends froze the moment for years to come.

Celebrants spilling out from the PAC on a beautiful day for Graduation

Sisters!

Emily is proud of her sister

Proud parents

The family

Sarah and Cate with art teacher and mentor, Mr. Brandau

Felice Moskowitz - Ohana teacher for five years

Sarah and Mrs. Heymann

Jenalyn's Hawaiian heritage on display! 

Sarah and Jenalyn

Sarah, Jenalyn, Nicole, and Joanna

Sarah and Maricruz

Sarah with Naomi

Friends!

Brenda and Sarah

The two Sarahs

One more unique ACMA tradition: seniors leave their mark on the school by creating a permanent piece of art in the school halls. This octopus, designed and painted by this year's class, includes all their names hidden within.

Eventually, the celebrations ended and it was time for us to head off to dinner and home again to transition to the big grad party for students that night. Heading to the parking lot, I couldn't help but feel that while we were leaving high school behind, we were walking towards new experiences, yet to be discovered. Here's to the future!

Senior Awards and Recognition

As I sat in ACMA's Performing Arts Center waiting for the Senior Awards and Recognition Ceremony to begin, I realized it was one of the last times I would be there. I was totally unprepared for the wellspring of emotion I felt, and fought to keep it from springing to the surface.

As the ceremony began and the senior class stats were shared, I felt an enormous amount of pride for these 82 young men and women, some of whom I know not at all, others who have accompanied Sarah on this journey for seven years now. It mattered not; I felt a connection to them all. Here are some of the reasons I celebrated for them:

• This class was awarded a total of $1.4 million in scholarships!
• All but five are attending college. What of these five? One will dance with the  Philadelphia Ballet; another is moving his already successful  photography business to New York City; one is joining the Air Force and will be serving our country in the military; another is teaching English in Costa Rica; and the last has been hired as an assitant producer for the locally-produced TV show, Portlandia. Not too shabby!

I had no expectation of Sarah receiving an award, so was thrilled when she became the recipient of this year's Book Arts Award. Mrs. Heymann, who is retiring this year, made some very nice remarks about Sarah in her introduction. She tried to keep us guessing as to who the actual recipient was, but I figured it out pretty quickly. The giveaways?

• Quiet student
• Positive work ethic, hard worker
• Book Arts piece was a Gold key winner in Scholastic Arts competition
• Member of the group whose dress won a Gold Key, as well
• Her Book Arts piece is currently on display in a professional art exhibit in Hillsboro

Added up, it was obvious that Sarah was the winner. Mrs. Heymann has always been supportive of and complimentary of Sarah and her Book Arts work. Indeed, Sarah does seem to have a real talent, an exactness, in that area. I was glad Mrs. Heymann was able to give her final Book Arts award to Sarah before she retired.

Many of Sarah's friends received awards, as well; one friend, Naomi, was named as the class Salutatorian. It made me feel proud that Sarah has been part of such a high-achieving circle.

A large part of the ceremony was the awarding of cords to be worn with cap and gown at Graduation. Sarah was presented with three (another proud moment!):

• Gold: National Honor Society
• Maroon: National Arts Honor Society
• White: Honor Scholar (at least a 3.5 GPA, A on Capstone, 60 hrs. community service, 2 years or more of a world language, completion of a pathway endorsement)

The only cord she didn't earn, since she took Spanish as her language, was the National Japanese Honor Society. Only two students earned all four cords. Pretty impressive!

Aside from awards, highlights of the assembly were a Slam poetry reading by Allison Stein and a performance by the unofficial Pep Band, consisting of good old Mr. Brandau, Katie PeBenito, and former ACMA student, Troy S. They were absolutely hilarious!

I wiped the tears from my eyes as I left the auditorium, so proud of my accomplished daughter, hoping I would be able to hold it together for Graduation, just a few days away.

Scholastic Art Awards 2012

Well, Sarah has done it again. Once more, she had work featured this year in the Scholastic Art Awards student art competition. Her Gold Key winning pieces were displayed at PNCA during the month of February. Viewing the work in this room full of fabulously creative art by talented middle and high school students was impressive, to say the least.

We attended the Artists Opening Reception on February 2nd and enjoyed seeing her work shown alongside the other students' from the Portland metropolitan area. The awards ceremony itself was held at the Newmark Theater in downtown Portland in February 22nd. It was so inspiring to be in the presence of such talent!

Sarah won Gold Keys for two pieces:

"Self-Portrait in the Style of Alice Neel"
 
She's also entered this in a scholarship competition through the Portland Women's Club in April. Fingers crossed.

"Untitled" book arts sculpture (since then renamed "Unreadable").
 
She's entered this in an exhibit at the Walters Cultural Arts Center in Hillsboro in May. Fingers crossed again...

Sarah was also part of a group whose paper dress won a Gold Key. Although her name wasn't on the submission (and, thus, the Gold Key was not presented to her), I think she deserves credit for her part in the project. It's shown here on a very manly mannequin. :-) Enlarged, you may notice that the skirt is made from old sheet music.

This class project culminated in a multidisciplinary show wherein the dresses were modeled by class members via a runway fashion show. Dance department students coached the models in their runway walks and filmmaking students captured it on video. Click on the link below to view the entire show.

ACMA 2011 Paper Couture Fashion Show

Photography students captured each look as still photos which were then compiled into a 2012 calendar. Sarah's group's dress made the cover!
 

Scholastic also awarded Sarah's pastel, "Sofa", an Honorable Mention.

We're so proud of Sarah's work and are hopeful that the strength of her portfolio will help her in her search for college admissions!


Update 3/30/12:
Sarah received word that "Unreadable" was accepted into the Questioning Functionality 3 art exhibit at the Walters Cultural Arts Center in Hillsboro. It will open in May. This will be her first non-student exhibit - so exciting! Way to go, Sarah!

Christmas 2011

This year, I promised myself I would get a head start getting everything ready for Christmas. Just before December arrived, I got out the boxes of decorations and opened the first one. Ugh! Mouse droppings, shredded paper cum nesting material, and eaten-away fabric and ribbon. I cleaned up what could be sterilized, tossed what couldn't, and was totally unmotivated to open any more boxes. Christmas preparations were put on hold until I recovered.

In the meantime, the busy Conchords performance season arrived. Our shows were fairly compressed this year, and we found ourselves singing 2-3 times per week. It looked like finding a time to schedule a trip to the Christmas tree farm to cut down a tree was next to impossible, so Larry, Sarah, and Emily went without me - and found a beauty. School, work, and performance schedules continued to play havoc with preparations, so the tree sat in a bucket of water in front of the house awaiting decoration.

I was lucky enough to be working a lot, but eventually managed to get over my rodent aversion and snagged a couple of days here and there to decorate. Luckily, no more vermin evidence was found, and I managed to get the living room mantle decorated with its collection of nutcrackers and snowmen. Greenery from the backyard and berries from a neighbor's front yard completed the look.

  

Santas stood proudly on the family room mantle.

    

Swags of greenery finished the look on the front of the house and the stairway. Xeda had to check out the newly festooned banister, and expressed her approval.

      

A few other areas received a festive touch, as well.

 

Finally, two weeks after it was cut, we finally got the tree into the house and, with carols playing and a fire blazing, hung ornaments with great care. It was a lovely way to spend time with my family on my birthday.

A week later, Christmas day arrived with gifts aplenty. 

  

 

Clothes seemed to have been on everyone's list.

     

Emily's big gift was an iPod.

Larry received an oft-mentioned movie.

Doctor Who gifts were a hit.

 

A storage bin doubled as a good hiding place - but is sure to be filled up soon.

 

There were gifts in Xeda's stocking, but in true kitty fashion, she liked the empty boxes best!

Exhausted from our gift exchange, we laid low most of the afternoon and watched Christmas movies. Later that night, Joan, Liza, and Annie Overholser joined us for Christmas dinner. It was great to have them here and to be able to return the hospitality they show us every Thanksgiving. Emily set a beautiful table, complete with napkins "folded" to look like candles.

 

Appetizers were Sweety Peps (little marinated sweet peppers stuffed with goat cheese), and crackers and cream cheese with cherry balsamic sauce.

 

Dinner was pork roast with cranberry-ginger glaze, wild rice with caramelized onions and cranberries, wrapped green beans, corn casserole, salad and rolls. Pretty yummy! 

   

Dessert was red velvet cake (left over from my birthday), and an assortment of Christmas cookies and chocolates, followed by a rousing game of Passadoodle, eliciting many belly laughs.

A lovely day replete with family, friends, food, and fond memories in the making.