Members of the Stevenson Music Department, along with our Director of Fine Arts, Steven Plank, presented a workshop at the 2008 Illinois Music Educators Association All-State Conference regarding
How the Professional Learning Community Model can Unify and Strengthen Your Total Music Department
We are happy to share our experiences and insights with our professional colleagues.
Just
for 8th Graders - Information about Music classes at Stevenson
For
ALL Stevenson Students - Join the Fun- take a Music Class !
Clark Chaffee, Director of Orchestras
Debbie Durham, Associate Music Director
Joyce Haqq, Associate Choral Director
Alice Nuteson, Choral Director
Gerry Peters, Assistant Band Director
Jeff Slepak, Director of Bands
Enrique Vilaseco, Associate Orchestra Director
Please let us know if there are any problems with these pages.
The
handout presented by Orchestra Director Clark Chaffee
at the MENC National Conference in April, 2006
Adlai E. Stevenson
High School
Lincolnshire, Illinois
an MENC Model Music Music Program - 2006
The Stevenson High School Music Department
Stevenson High
School students have a broad selection of music offerings from which to
choose. Nearly 300 band students are enrolled in 5 concert band
classes, with each also participating in marching band and pep band
activities. Stevenson also has approximately 250 students in its 5
choir classes, and 130 members in its 4 orchestras. Classes are also
offered in Beginning Classical Guitar, Beginning Piano, General Music,
Composing & Arranging, and AP Music Theory. There are also 9
co-curricular activities for singers and instrumentalists. Students
throughout our program are also active in the Illinois High School
Association Solo & Ensemble Contest, and the Illinois Music
Educators Association District and All-State auditions and ensembles.
Members of the Honor Band also rehearse and perform, on a periodic
basis, with the Stevenson Patriot Orchestra, gaining experience in
orchestral repertoire for winds and percussion.
Stevenson is a
model Professional Learning Community, and as such, the administration
fosters a focus on collaborative work in and amongst curriculum teams.
Each week, time is provided for faculty teams to meet to: set goals for
student achievement; share materials, ideas and techniques for
instructional strategies; work on developing formative and summative
assessment tools; evaluate data from tests and exams; reflect on the
effectiveness of our teaching. The entire music faculty meets weekly,
both as a unified curriculum team, and by ensemble area.
Much of what we have been able to achieve on behalf of our students has
been the result of collaboration between band, choir and orchestra
faculty. Viewing ourselves as a single music faculty–rather than as
independent divisions–is the theme of our working relationships.
Team teaching is
core to our performance ensemble instructional strategy. Our school
supports staffing that allows for two certified teachers to be assigned
to each performance ensemble class. (Our Assistant Directors are
certified teachers whose compensation, currently, is part-time
“faculty” and part-time “paraprofessional”. ) The team teaching
approach allows one teacher to conduct section-based pull-out
rehearsals and individual help and assessment during the class periods
while ensemble rehearsal is led by the partnering teacher. Teacher
partners are able to share insights about individual and group
progress, collaborate on lesson planning and also to share
conducting responsibilities .
At
Stevenson, all performance classes have a rigorous music theory
component that challenges students throughout their 4-year experiences
in ensembles. We are fortunate to have a 24 station MIDI Lab, with
current Mac hardware, and a variety of software for notation,
composition, music theory and aural skills training. All music
students in all classes reinforce their class work on a regular basis
in the MIDI Lab.
Composition
projects that are part of the curriculum for Honor Band, advanced
orchestra students, and guitar class, have generated many positive
results. Many of our students and graduates are writing and
arranging for orchestra and their own chamber groups; several have
pursued composition study at the university level. We have
premiered student works each of the last 6 years in orchestra and
chamber concerts. In the past 10 years, various of our
classes have had numerous contacts with professional composers,
including several commission projects.
Chamber music is
embraced as an integral part of instrumental music activities.
The top two bands engage in chamber music programs annually. Our
orchestra chamber festival in 2006 included 140 students performing in
35 ensembles. This program is supported with funding for outside
coaches through much of the school year. Our chamber groups
routinely give over 20 performances annually at a variety of school and
community events. One of our string quartets was a featured group
in a chamber music clinic at the IMEA State Conference. Guest
professional chamber groups perform at school every year.
Travel is an
important part of music activities at Stevenson. The Stevenson
Bands have traveled to perform and compete in many cities over the past
16 years. Destinations have included Ontario, Canada, St. Louis,
San Antonio, Washington D.C. and Disney World. The Honor Band was
featured in concert at the 2005 IMEA State Conference and has
been a clinic band at the Midwest Convention. The Stevenson
Orchestras have performed in Rome, Milan, Cremona, Venice, Cleveland,
Los Angles, Disneyland, Disney World, and Washington DC. They
have also been invited to serve as a clinic orchestra for Doris Gazda
at the Midwest Convention and at the Illinois All State conference.
Our bands,
orchestras and choirs have earned consistent Division I ratings in IHSA
Organizational Contest over the years, and in each of the festival
competitions in which they have participated. We believe students
benefit from professional evaluations of their work, and enjoy getting
that feedback from festival adjudicators and guest clinicians.
Each of our
performance divisions maintains close relationships with our area
junior high school faculty and programs. Concerts are held in each
division to bring current 8th grade musicians together from our
six independent sender schools, and allow potential students to
get acquainted with high school students and faculty.
The music faculty
have also established working relationships with several area
universities, many of which send music education majors to observe our
classes. We have welcomed conducting classes to work with our ensembles
and many of us have mentored student teachers. Our faculty have also
been invited to speak to university classes about our curriculum. By
sustaining these connections, we are helping with the education of the
next generation of teachers, as well as giving our current students a
chance to interact with students who have committed themselves to music
professions.
Adlai E. Stevenson
High School
Adlai E. Stevenson
High School, located in Lincolnshire, Illinois, first opened in 1965
and today educates more than 4,500 students. Stevenson is the only high
school in Illinois to receive four Blue Ribbon Awards for Excellence in
Education from the U.S. Department of Education. SHS won the award in
1987, 1991, 1998, and 2002. Stevenson also received the U.S. Department
of Education’s New American High Schools Award in 1998. Newsweek and
U.S. News and World Report have ranked Stevenson among the top 100 high
schools in America. Stevenson is included annually in the School Watch
and School Match listings of schools that offer features most sought by
parents. Stevenson is one of the world’s leaders in Advanced Placement
program participation. Approximately 97 percent of SHS graduates attend
college. Stevenson has nearly 100 co-curricular clubs and activities
open to students. Three-fourths of the student body is involved in
co-curriculars, ranging from athletics to performing arts to civics.
Stevenson Music
Department Faculty
Clark Chaffee,
Orchestra Director (MENC Presenter)
cchaffee@d125.org
Debbie Durham,
Associate Director of Bands
ddurham@d125.org
Joyce Haqq,
Assistant Choral Director
jhaqq@d125.org
Alice Nuteson,
Choral Director
anuteson@d125.org
Gerry Peters,
Assistant Band Director
gpeters@d125.org
Jeff Slepak,
Director of Bands
jslepak@d125.org
Enrique Vilaseco,
Assistant Orchestra Director
evilaseco@d125.org
Stevenson Web Sites
Stevenson High
School www.d125.org
Stevenson Music
Department -Navigation from Stevenson Home Page: Academics -> Fine Arts -> Music
1 Stevenson Drive
Lincolnshire, IL 60069
847 / 415-4000