Luke Landgraf ’11 and Brendan Anderson ’13 are guest presenters during Fine Arts Festival

Edgewood High School Fine Arts Festival is February 24-26, 2016!

Art by Cassie Jacobsen

View a full listing of events and guest artists.

Luke Landgraf ’11 is thrilled to be back at Edgewood High School during his favorite week of the year. Since graduating, he attended the CAP21 Musical Theatre Training Program in New York City, and was recently seen in a workshop of Carousel with Broadway actors Leslie Odom Jr. (famed for the musical Hamilton) and Alice Ripley (from Next to Normal and the upcoming American Psycho). Luke will offer a Guest Artist Day presentation on Wednesday, February 24, where he will share with students how he prepares for a musical audition, and what it takes to be an actor living in NYC. He’ll review the different styles of music needed in an actor’s audition book in order to successfully book a musical theatre job. Luke will also give a Wednesday evening workshop on auditioning and vocal performance and will talk about the overall process of preparing to pursue musical theatre.

Brendan Anderson ’13 is currently attending Marquette University where he is majoring in economics and minoring in film. Brendan has a passion for the subject of film and has been giving presentations for the Edgewood Fine Arts week film festival since his sophomore year at EHS. Previous presentations have been about Alfred Hitchcock, Sherlock Holmes, and the history of the action movie genre. This year, he’ll be a Film Festival Day guest on Friday, February 26, presenting Star Wars: Origins of the Force, reviewing mythology and classic films in order to piece together the sources of the blockbuster space saga.  Brendan continues to write a blog where he posts reviews of both current and classic films.

Cassidy McDonald ’13 wins New York Times journalism contest

Cassidy McDonald photo from Notre Dame News

Cassidy McDonald ’13, a junior at University of Notre Dame, will be going on assignment with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Nick Kristof from the New York Times. As this year’s winner of Kristof’s annual “Win A Trip with Nick” contest, Cassidy’s prize is to travel this summer with the NYT columnist to a developing country to raise awareness about neglected global issues. During the trip, she will report for a blog and may appear in videos that will be published on the Times website.

At Notre Dame, Cassidy is majoring in marketing, with a minor in the John W. Gallivan Program in Journalism, Ethics and Democracy. She is managing editor and writer for Scholastic, the University’s monthly student news magazine. Cassidy also serves as a student video assistant and co-hosts the program ND Top Ten for Fighting Irish Media (FIM) in the University’s athletics department.

During the fall of 2015, Cassidy worked in Washington, D.C., as an intern for the 60 Minutes television program, creating research reports on Russian military weapons, gun death statistics, nuclear capabilities of Middle Eastern countries and more. She also managed a shoot in West Virginia and worked to fact-check the show’s scripts.

Of this most recent honor, Cassidy says, “I’m incredibly honored by the opportunity to travel alongside Mr. Kristof; his reporting is my favorite example of journalism as a force for good. He reports on the world’s most marginalized people, but his work doesn’t discourage—it inspires.”

 Read the full Notre Dame News story and view Cassidy’s application video for the trip accompanied by her attention-grabbing written entry that opens:
I once went viral when I wrote a story about cheese.
…The assignment wasn’t the hardest-hitting piece I’d done, but I decided to have fun with it: “Wisconsin cheesemakers found their whey Friday at the American Cheese Society Competition in Providence, Rhode Island, where they did better than gouda – they did grate.”

Congrats to alumnae runners!

On Friday, February 5, three EHS alumna participated in the 2016 Armory Track Invitational College Seeded Distance and Field Events.

In the Women’s 5000 Meter, Michele Lee ’12,  who is currently attending UW-Madison, placed 3rd with a time of 16:31.57, after also placing 3rd in the first group. See her Badger profile.

In the Women’s 3000 Meter, Ave Grosenheider ’15,  a student at Richmond College, finished 34th overall, with a time of 10:19.91, having placed 12th in her group. See her Richmond Spiders profile.

In the Women’s Distance Relay, Amy Davis ’15, was a member of the 5th place UW-Madison team that finished with a time of 11.41.21. See her Badger profile.

Orchestra students participate in area schools Honors Orchestra concert

Edgewood's annual Fine Arts Festival will be held February 24-26, and in anticipation of it, here is a recent example of students participating in the arts...

For all those alumni who participated in the music program, here’s a post that should bring back memories of the excitement of being selected to perform with students from other schools under the baton of a special guest conductor. Nine Edgewood students were chosen to be members of the Badger Conference Honors Orchestra along with students from Mt. Horeb, Reedsburg, Fort Atkinson, Oregon, Stoughton, and Waunakee to offer a free concert, conducted by Dr. Janet Jensen from UW-Madison, at Monona Grove High School on February 9.  The participating EHS students were Will Atkinson, Rachael Brolin, Sam Fremgen, John McKee, Lillian Otteson, Alex Pigarelli, Gwen Pyeatt, Molly Raichle and Aden Stier.

Watch for more posts on the Fine Arts Festival and this year's spring musical, The Music Man.

Claudia Arndt ’15 Pursues Adventure and Assists a Cause in Sri Lanka

Claudia Arndt ’15 is currently climbing Adam's Peak, a sacred and beautiful mountain in Sri Lanka, to raise money for the elephants that stay and receive care at the Millennium Elephant Foundation. The money that is donated is going towards making a “Free Roaming Area” for the elephants to be able to walk freely and socialize without people. Other donations will go towards providing care for sick elephants. You can follow Claudia’s adventures through her Facebook page.

Millennium Elephant Foundation (MEF) is situated on a beautiful 15-acre estate known as ‘Samaragiri,’ which has been home to the Samarasinghe family for many generations. The family has owned elephants since the 1960s. In 1979 the family opened the estate to the public as Club Concept Elephant Bath. The MEF charity was then founded in 1999 and has been working since then to improve the care, protection and treatment of elephants in Sri Lanka by providing a place of safety, medical services and facilities. It is the only certified non-profit organisation working with captive elephants in Sri Lanka.

Values and Catholic social teaching in action

As Edgewood prepares to celebrate Catholic Schools Week, February 1-6, a post on service and putting the values of compassion, community and partnership into practice seems appropriate.

On the first Monday and fourth Tuesday of the month when school is in session, Edgewood High School is committed to serving the hungry in the Madison community. Since the late 1990s, students, faculty, parents and alumni arrive at the Catholic Multicultural Center on Beld Street and spend a couple hours providing the warmth of both a meal and smiles to those in need of both.

According to science teacher Bob Shannon, “I believe that serving at the CMC or any other venue teaches us about humanity, humility, tolerance and acceptance. This is the core of what Jesus teaches us. In serving others we are serving Jesus. In a small way, students and all volunteers are living the values of the Sinsinawa Dominicans. When we encounter those in need, we not only learn about society, we learn about ourselves. Poverty, hunger, and mental illness are issues that involve all of us—not just the people on the other side of the serving line. We cannot separate ourselves from the human condition, or we risk becoming less human. I think we should come away from this experience with an appreciation and better understanding of the human condition—good and bad—and that one person can make a difference.”

The food is already prepared by others and the Edgewood volunteers set up and serve between about 3:45 and 5:15 pm. Participation by more Madison area alumni would be welcome. If you are interested, contact Dennis McKinley ’63 at dennis.mckinley@edgewoodhs.org.

Teachers and students appreciate benefits of personal computers and shared learning tools

Edgewood’s 1:1 Chromebook initiative was featured in a story in the Wisconsin State Journal that discussed just a couple of the ways faculty are implementing computer-assisted learning in their curricula. Chromebooks are fast, secure, simple to use, offer long battery life, integrate seamlessly with student Google email and Apps for Education, and provide access to a number of tools and apps through the Chrome Web Store.

While uses in math and science classes may be more obvious, all departments are embracing the added tool that allows them to reach and teach students in new ways. For example, English II students created “maps” using Google Draw to illustrate Esperanza’s journey in The House on Mango Street. They also participated in online discussions about books they read during the summer.
Students in AP English used Google Docs and Google Slides to collaborate on group projects for The Kite Runner and Merry Wives of Windsor. In addition, they are preparing for the AP Exam by taking online practice AP English exams that have been created in Google Forms.

In Modern Drama, Google Docs provided collaborative space for students to brainstorm and share notes. After students conducted research on Tennessee Williams and his play, A Streetcar Named Desire, they came to class and logged onto a class Google Doc to share their favorite tidbits while the document was projected on the board. An interactive discussion followed; during this discussion, students added pictures, color, and fonts for emphasis. This shared document will be used as a resource for future classwork.

In freshman Biology, students work collaboratively on creating reports as they contribute individual research, then compare their research in small groups, amend the information as a group and then complete a single report.

In an example of the “flipped classroom” concept, some teachers provide students with videos of themselves reviewing homework or lecture concepts, which students can view at home on their Chromebooks for curriculum reinforcement. Google Classroom offers a discussion forum option, which allows students to have online discussions where they are able to develop their own perspective on classroom topics. Discussions are then referenced by teachers to ensure student comprehension and encourage in-class discussion.

Less paper! Teachers and staff have transitioned to posting syllabi, assignments, essay drafts and announcements, greatly reducing our use of paper.

Edgewood looks forward to increasingly being a model environment for expanding the possibilities that computer-assisted learning offers in allowing teachers to implement instructional diversity that keeps students engaged and prepares them for the world after school.