Artist Review by Loren Backfisch

When I was given the chance to speak with A.J. Croce, Jim Croce’s son we got some pretty interesting facts and tips from him. He likes any type of music as long as it is soul music and he started playing the piano and turned to many other instruments and he still takes lessons to this day. He loves meeting new people when he is on the road however, he doesn’t like that there is never any time to check out landmarks. He states that there he can not choose just one song as a favorite but advises upcoming  artists listen to as many songs as you can from country to pop and it helps you get an idea of how and what to write with your music. There are a lot of types of music to work with like when your painting you have a lot of colors to choose from. “There’s really no precious thing about song writing or I wouldn’t be able to continue to write every day.” In my opinion if he were to quit writing songs then so many good songs would be lost.

Please click this link to see why A.J Croce is my favorite musical artist. – (A.J. video clip)

Fine Arts Travels to Elementary Schools

On Friday, December 12, 2014 the Wood Middle School Fine Arts programs went on their annual Holiday Tour. The tour was designed to inform 5th graders about the various fine arts programs at Wood Middle School and to spread holiday cheer. The students performed a variety of festive music for their adoring fans many of whom left speechless after the amazing talent demonstrated before their eyes. “The orchestra did a wonderful job in representing the Wood MS Orchestra Program! The students had a blast performing for their former schools and showing our future 6th graders what we are all about! Job well done!” said Ms. Luna, orchestra teacher. The next Wood Middle School Fine Arts tour will be December of 2015.

“The entire electives department wishes all students and family a fabulous holiday break and we look forward to the new year with all of our Wranglers!” stated Mrs. Brown, Career and Technology teacher.

 

Wrangler Hour of Code

Computers are everywhere, but fewer schools teach computer science than 10 years ago. Girls and minorities are severely underrepresented. Good news is, we’re on our way to change this.

In one week last year, 15 million students tried computer science! Computer science was on homepages of Google, MSN, Yahoo! and Disney. President Obama, Shakira and Ashton Kutcher all kicked off the Hour of Code with videos. Over 100 partners came together to support this movement.

Now the Hour of Code movement is aiming for 100 million students. As of December 12, 2014 the world has seen 70 million students complete their hour of code.  This is truly amazing.

The Hour of Code, organized by the nonprofit Code.org and over 100 others, is a statement that today’s generation of students are ready to learn critical skills for 21st century success.

This week, across 180 countries, millions of people are learning new skills that can change the rest of their lives. The Hour of Code 2014 is already twice as big as last year! Over 500 signed up for the hour of code at Wood Middle School all week students, teachers, parents, and community members came through Mrs. Brown’s computer lab earning their certificates and many others participated at home. This Computer Science Week has been like no other here at our fabulous School.

Click here so see a glimpse of some proud moments – http://tinyurl.com/wranglercode