Artistic tradition defines school’s quality

The performing arts have been integral to the Lawrence Woodmere Academy (LWA) curriculum for as long as I can remember.

In middle school, FAME (Fine Arts and Miscellaneous Electives) was collectively deemed the greatest class ever: Each group would brag about how awesome its elective was. Now, in the Upper School, chorus, band, drama and studio art comprise a beloved quartet of artistic options. The Upper School Spring Concert and Art Show showcased many amazing talents in the vocal, instrumental and visual arts, premiering some up-and-comers in the Academy’s artistic community.

This is the next generation, as a senior will inevitably perceive it, of painters and performers, following the current graduating talents. Despite the glumness of abandoning positions as leaders in our respective arts, upperclassmen are confident in the freshmen's and sophomore's capabilities to further extend a legacy. And that's exactly what art is at LWA is: a legacy, bequeathed unto the newest members of the upper school each year, an enduring cycle.

It begins when all freshmen are required to take either band or chorus along with a digital arts rotation, immersing each student in an artistic medium. If the student is a particularly interested or talented vocalist or instrumentalist, he can join the select chorus or jazz band.

The digital arts rotation is a mandatory two-year course comprising three fields of study, one per trimester. Freshmen are required to take classes in dramatic performance, studio art and design technology (BITS). Sophomores maintain the same rotation and drama is replaced with digital design. Though the core artistic requirements often sound frustrating to the underclassman, they enable the student to venture into his interests, some of which may have been previously hidden.