Arts in Education program ends on a jazzy note

WEBUTUCK — Webutuck’s year-long Arts in Education assembly series ended on Friday, May 6, with an educational jazz performance.Organized in a joint effort by art instructor Samuel FitzGerald, physical education instructor Doug Winslow and choral instructor Lee Stowe, the program, which was revived this year, is “infusing culture into the curriculum to build a school that’s deep in the arts,” according to FitzGerald.Friday’s assembly introduced the high school students to jazz music and singing. Short lectures given by Stowe on the history and culture of jazz were interspersed among live performances from the chorus class, the jazz band, two Webutuck music instructors and two guest musicians.“We’ve got two professional jazz musicians on staff here, so it’s great,” said FitzGerald, referring to Stowe and Jay Bradley.The guest musicians, David Winograd and Charlie Tokarz, garnered enthusiastic whoops from the audience with their performances. After marching into the auditorium while playing a catchy tune, Winograd excited the crowd with improv scat singing and Tokarz impressed by playing two saxophones at the same time.Previous assemblies from the Arts in Education program have introduced the students to topics such as Native American dance and music and Afro-Brazilian dance. The latter included capoeira instruction for the students.Winslow said he was pleased with the events, but was particularly happy with the jazz assembly. “What I liked about today is that they had a lot of our kids perform, too,” he said. Previous presentations were interactive, but did not include Webutuck students on the same level as the jazz assembly, which had multiple musical and vocal performances from the students.The Arts in Education program does not receive funding from the school budget. Instead, all of its resources are earned through fundraisers, including a chicken barbecue and a fruit sale.“We wanted to do Shakespeare, but we didn’t have the money,” said Winslow. FitzGerald said that next year would have more fundraisers to ensure that the program can offer strong assemblies on a wider variety of art-related topics.At a time when many schools across the country are cutting art and music programs, Webutuck is bucking the trend. The students definitely seemed to appreciate it. There were multiple occasions during the hour-long assembly when the entire auditorium clapped along with the music. Students also danced down the aisles as they filed out of the auditorium. Some even stayed behind to dance and enjoy the last song played by the music instructors and the guest musicians.