Follow this link for all the details for this week’s assignment: CLICK HERE!

FINAL REMINDER: DEADLINE FOR POP (VIRTUAL) AUDITIONS AND THE SENIOR SONG (only seniors can submit a senior song and it must be an original piece) DUE TOMORROW (TUESDAY, MAY 12TH, 2020!)

POP GOES THE SAILORS “STAYS HOME”

(A “CAN DO assignment”-NOT REQUIRED)

This online Pops performance will be a video compilation of solo covers and other pieces submitted by current MSHS high school choir students online.

You may submit a solo or a duet/quartet/sextet/etc. if you can figure out the video/audio components of that. The theme is “Stay Home”, so stay home! You may sing ANY SONG you would like. This is everybody’s chance to sing the songs they’ve always wanted to but couldn’t because of a theme! Please limit your auditions to three pieces maximum. 

We are also looking for SENIOR SONG submissions! This selected senior song will be used in various senior videos being produced as well as performed at the July graduation ceremony, if we can have it. The senior song must be newly composed and performed by seniors only.

All auditions will be judged by the Choir Music Staff.

ALL VIDEOS ARE DUE  BY TUESDAY, MAY 12th.

For detailed information regarding both recording and submission of videos, follow this link (this is a must read!): CLICK HERE!

NEW! To view this week’s required choir assignment (last one for our choir seniors), please follow this link: CLICK HERE!

REMINDER: UNRELATED BUT IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: We have extended the deadline for the Pop Go the Sailors “Stays Home” video submissions to Tuesday, May 12th as this is a very busy week for our senior choir members! Directions for properly submitting your audition video(s), were included in your previous Google Classroom “assignment” titled, “Pop Go the Sailors Stays Home.” This is also where you submit your completed video(s) as well. THIS IS OPTIONAL–NOT A MUST DO!

If you can’t find it here is he post again:

POP GOES THE SAILORS “STAYS HOME”

(A “CAN DO assignment”-NOT REQUIRED)

This online Pops performance will be a video compilation of solo covers and other pieces submitted by current MSHS high school choir students online.

You may submit a solo or a duet/quartet/sextet/etc. if you can figure out the video/audio components of that. The theme is “Stay Home”, so stay home! You may sing ANY SONG you would like. This is everybody’s chance to sing the songs they’ve always wanted to but couldn’t because of a theme! Please limit your auditions to three pieces maximum.

We are also looking for SENIOR SONG submissions! This selected senior song will be used in various senior videos being produced as well as performed at the July graduation ceremony, if we can have it. The senior song must be newly composed and performed by seniors only.

All auditions will be judged by the Choir Music Staff.

REMINDER: DEADLINE EXTENDED: ALL VIDEOS (including the senior song) ARE NOW DUE  BY FRIDAY, MAY 12th.

For detailed information regarding both recording and submission of videos, follow this link (this is a must read!): CLICK HERE!

NEW! To view this week’s required choir assignment (last one for our choir seniors), please follow this link: CLICK HERE!

UNRELATED BUT IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE: We have extended the deadline for the Pop Go the Sailors “Stays Home” video submissions to Tuesday, May 12th as this is a very busy week for our senior choir members! Directions for properly submitting your audition video(s), were included in your previous Google Classroom “assignment” titled, “Pop Go the Sailors Stays Home.” This is also where you submit your completed video(s) as well. THIS IS OPTIONAL–NOT A MUST DO!

If you can’t find it here is he post again:

POP GOES THE SAILORS “STAYS HOME”

(A “CAN DO assignment”-NOT REQUIRED)

This online Pops performance will be a video compilation of solo covers and other pieces submitted by current MSHS high school choir students online.

You may submit a solo or a duet/quartet/sextet/etc. if you can figure out the video/audio components of that. The theme is “Stay Home”, so stay home! You may sing ANY SONG you would like. This is everybody’s chance to sing the songs they’ve always wanted to but couldn’t because of a theme! Please limit your auditions to three pieces maximum.

We are also looking for SENIOR SONG submissions! This selected senior song will be used in various senior videos being produced as well as performed at the July graduation ceremony, if we can have it. The senior song must be newly composed and performed by seniors only.

All auditions will be judged by the Choir Music Staff.

DEADLINE EXTENDED: ALL VIDEOS (including the senior song) ARE NOW DUE  BY FRIDAY, MAY 12th.

For detailed information regarding both recording and submission of videos, follow this link (this is a must read!): CLICK HERE!

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Hello Sailors! 

This communication contains some new things since my last contact with you

AND ONE BIG (Pop Go the Sailors) ANNOUNCEMENT TOO! 

First: 

• Have some fun and find out “What Choir Staff Member Are You?” Emily Mann has created a Buzzfeed Quiz so you can find out! Give it a try here: CLICK HERE! 
• Don’t forget to complete your first “official” graded online assignment by this week Friday, April 24, by 3:00pm. Here’s a link to the assignment in case you missed it: CLICK HERE! 
• Since you are not actually turning in this week’s assignment to Google Classroom (you are just submitting your Google Form answers), remember to go to Classroom and let me know you turned it in. It’s just nice for me to keep track of completed assignments there and I can also assign you a grade that you can see.  
• Those of you that were going on the overseas tour should have received an email with an updated refund release. Check the email you used to sign up for the tour–that’s the one it was sent to. More info on a notary signing day shortly.  
• Seniors, we are working on when/how we will collect your choir uniforms, folders/music (if you have them). More to come on this soon.  

And now, for the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT! If we can’t have Pop Go the Sailors, live, in the MSHS Performing Arts Center, we can still do the best we can–that’s what we do! Special thanks to Timmy Schneider for bringing this idea to me and doing a ton of the work. He also came up with the title! 

POP GOES THE SAILORS “STAYS HOME”

(A “CAN DO assignment”-NOT REQUIRED)

This online Pops performance will be a video compilation of solo covers and other pieces submitted by current MSHS high school choir students online.

You may submit a solo or a duet/quartet/sextet/etc. if you can figure out the video/audio components of that. The theme is “Stay Home”, so stay home! You may sing ANY SONG you would like. This is everybody’s chance to sing the songs they’ve always wanted to but couldn’t because of a theme! Please limit your auditions to three pieces maximum. 

We are also looking for SENIOR SONG submissions! This selected senior song will be used in various senior videos being produced as well as performed at the July graduation ceremony, if we can have it. The senior song must be newly composed and performed by seniors only.

All auditions will be judged by the Choir Music Staff.

DEADLINE EXTENDED: ALL VIDEOS (including the senior song) ARE NOW DUE  BY FRIDAY, MAY 12th.

For detailed information regarding both recording and submission of videos, follow this link (this is a must read!): CLICK HERE!

Hello Choirs! 

Welcome to your first OFFICIAL week of online learning as this is the first week in which completing your assignments counts towards your getting credit in each of your classes. Many of you have done a wonderful job thus far with the meditation assignment, FlipGrid check-in, turning in your choir auditions and doing a music project last week! 

It’s very important to keep up with your weekly assignments from here on out, and there are some of you I have not heard from at all. Good news for seniors, you’ve only got two weeks left in your non-AP classes! 

After reviewing and grading all of the 161 projects turned in last week, I had an idea to do something different for this week’s assignment. I chose ten student projects from last week based on one or more of the following criteria: 

1. The project was unique, different, surprising or took a project in a way I didn’t expect.
2. The project was very creative.
3. A project only a few (or sometimes one) person that decided to do it.
4. The project took guts, such as doing a performance.
5. The student’s work represented the spirit of the project well. 
6. The project gave me the feels. 

I have learned something from reading, watching and/or listening to ALL of your projects and I also believe we all can learn from one another. So let’s do it! What follows is this week’s assignment: 

DIRECTIONS: Review all 10 projects below and then choose a minimum of three projects and share SOMETHING POSITIVE. You will use this link to share your responses: CLICK HERE! (See next page for project links)

The following projects are in alphabetical order, by last name, were selected by Mr. Lawton: 

• Aislyn Bohn: Playlist– Inner and Outer Monologue: CLICK HERE!    
• April Bowlin: Playlist– Songs That Catch You By Surprise: CLICK HERE! 
• Jakari Carson: Comparative Analysis– “Cabaret”: CLICK HERE! 
• Keira Dickson: Propose a Choral Program- “Change”: CLICK HERE! 
• Sam Freye: Playlist- “Take On Me”: CLICK HERE! 
• Connor Fritz: Conduct an Interview (video)- Noah Kinnucan: CLICK HERE! 
• Rebecca Powell: Be A Performer- “i love you”, by Billie Eilish:  Video: CLICK HERE!  Written part: CLICK HERE! 
• Libby Shaw: Be A Performer- “All I Want by Kodaline”: Video: CLICK HERE! Written Part: CLICK HERE! 
• Miles Swainston: Playlist– “Hope”- CLICK HERE! 
• Ellie Tatum: Pitch An Idea- “Synesthesia Presentation: CLICK HERE! 

Again, You will use this link to share your responses: CLICK HERE! 

This assignment is due not later than this Friday, April 24th, by 3:00 pm

Hello all,

In advance of a new email that will include an updated tour refund release from Cultural Tour Consultants, here is an update from our Superintendent to all of you. You will very likely receive this updated tour refund release email tomorrow (4/19). We still plan to offer a notary signing session at the high school, but I couldn’t set that up until we got to this point. More information to come on that soon. I would also recommend that if you did purchase trip insurance, follow through with that as well. Unfortunately, I did not for my daughter, but perhaps you can get back some more of your money using this route. Just a thought.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Choir Families-

I am writing today with news of the refund for the Choir trip overseas that was cancelled due to COVID-19.  We have continued to work with our travel consultant to do all that we can for our families. As of Friday we are down to $500 each as the cancellation cost. This is half of the contract amount of $1,000 for cancellation.  I believe we are at the point where this is the best we are going to get.

When we initially informed you all of cancelling the trip we told you we would have our legal counsel guide us and ultimately fight for us should that be necessary. We have done that up to this point. Our legal counsel has stated, we will continue to fight for you if you would like, but there is no guarantee of winning at this point and if we do it, it will be more than a year from now. A year from now many of these travel companies may be out of business and there may not be money to give your families. Our recommendation is that you take what is available now as it may not be after a court battle and you may ultimately end up getting even less.

Ultimately our battle would be with the travel company. Each of you has a signed contract and in that contract is a cancellation fee of $1,000. This has been cut in half at this point and certainly demonstrates a good faith effort on behalf of the tour company.  Travel, especially international travel, has some inherent risks and this is one of them.

While I am glad that there is cash coming back to our families, I do sympathize with the burden a loss of $500 creates. I wish that this piece had been better. It has been suggested that the school District cover that cost. The District cannot take on the financial impact of all that has been lost or cancelled for our families due to the COVID-19 outbreak around the world. This is a world-wide pandemic and I am certain that no one regrets that we are not in the final planning stages for sending our kids into international countries during said pandemic.

In closing, please know that I am sorry it is not better. It is the recommendation of school administration, our legal counsel, and our travel company that we take this refund as it is right now. It is important to remember that the travel industry has been decimated by this. Many of the companies in the USA and around the world will not survive this and will go bankrupt and close. We want money in the hands of our families and taking this refund now versus continuing the fight is the only way to ensure that happens.

Please email or call with any questions or concerns. My email obrienb@monashores.net and my cell phone is (231) 206-6714.

Bill

—

NEW: Hello all! Everyone please read and check the linked document below!

I’m doing my best to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I’m still missing choir audition materials. I required them to be turned in by last Sunday and then shifted to last week Wednesday for the straggles. Last chance! Here is an up to date list. The first one I sent out earlier in the week was just people missing 30 second song videos. This list is comprehensive and covers everything that is missing (sight reading videos, Amens videos, 30 second song videos and 2nd tri final exams:

If you are not going to be in choir next year and see yourself in this list, please shoot me a quick email at lawtons@monashores.net or a REMIND text to let me know so I can take you off. Thanks!

CLICK HERE! to view the who is missing stuff list!

Also, all the materials and further information you need to get this done can be found in a post just down a bit from this one! Thanks for getting this done peeps!

NEW! Hello choir students (current seniors can ignore this message):

Your choir audition videos (3 videos: one for the “Amens”, one for your “30 second song” and one for your “sight-reading”)  were due this past Sunday, by 7:00 pm on Google Classroom. I’ve sent repeated REMIND texts, emails and the information is here on the choir blog.

I am currently missing 42 auditions (one part or more of the 3 videos you needed to send in…I’ve only checked the “30 second songs” so far, so there may be even more of you).

I also have 25 of you who are not on the list for next year’s choirs. This does NOT include the people who told me they weren’t going to be in choir next year prior to us going into the shut down (I didn’t include students who had talked to me previously and told me they weren’t coming back…some of you that did, I might have forgotten, sorry about that…)

Attached is the list of missing people and what they are missing. Please message me back on either REMIND or email at: lawtons@monashores.net  and tell me what your thinking. You can say things like:

I’m not coming back to choir (no worries, I won’t judge you…I just need to know at this point!)

Or, I should be on the list, I don’t know what happened! Please let the counseling department know.

Or, I forgot to do my videos.

Or, I’m having trouble getting my videos done and here is my issue…

Or, I’m happy just staying in my current choir, so please leave me there (not allowed in Singers or Acappella-You must re-audition each year, since you are in top choirs.

I need this information ASAP as the counseling department can’t move forward until I give them my lists. Your prompt attention is appreciated. If I do not hear back by this week Wednesday, April 1st, by 7 pm, I will assume that you either aren’t coming back to choir (if you are not on the counseling lists currently) or if that you are happy staying in your current choir. 

Here is the current list, which I will update as you make your replies:

CLICK HERE!

Lastly, I haven’t looked at the Involvement Forms yet either, but hopefully you have those completed too.

Thank You for your prompt attention to this matter.

P.S. I miss you all!

Mr. Lawton

NEW! Hello everyone,