Las Vegas School District's R. Guild Gray Virtual Gallery
About the R. Guild Gray Virtual Gallery
In its continued commitment to arts education Las Vegas Schools have created the R. Guild Gray Virtual Gallery. This gallery serves as an innovative way to allow students and faculty of the Las Vegas School District to display their artwork. This is an excellent way to connect to the community and use of modern technology. The R. Guild Gray Virtual Gallery is divided into three sections. The first section is devoted to the display of student artwork. The second section is used to exhibit the art of teachers in the Las Vegas School District. The final area is dedicated to the works of R. Guild Gray. The Virtual Gallery uses interactive navigation that allows you to move through the displays and simply click on the artwork you want view and it will expand to a full screen view. The whole site is designed to mimic a real museum type experience. To progress through the Virtual Gallery, you use arrows at the bottom of the screen to move around the rooms. Each room contains between twelve to twenty pieces. The Virtual Gallery has two floors with the bottom floor housing students works. The R. Guild Gray Virtual Gallery has rotating collection and is used to showcase the art skills of the elementary, middle and high school students in the Las Vegas School District. The Virtual Gallery can be accessed from this web site; http://ccsd.net/vg2000/ .
An Important Educator in the Las Vegas School District
R. Guild Gray, the namesake for the R. Guild Gray Virtual Gallery, was an influential poet, historian, educator and politician. Mr. Gray was an important figure in the Las Vegas School District. Mr. Gray passed away in 1998. Guild Gray was a transplant to Nevada, but made a large impact. He had his secondary and some university in Reno. Mr. Gray went on to become the Las Vegas School District superintendent and served in this position until 1961. Later Mr. Gray was elected to the Nevada State Assembly, where he served on the Education Committee. In this capacity, he often fought for the needs of the Las Vegas School District. Mr. Gray was an avid historian. Many people, especially the students at the Gray Elementary School in the Las Vegas School District which was named in his honor, knew him as a reservoir of knowledge of Nevada history and lore. Later in life he became a poet and photography traveling the Nevada country side writing and taking landscape photos. He wrote several books of poetry, fiction and history. His most famous books include The Treble V, a story containing the history and legends of cattle ranchers in northeastern Nevada, and Nature Sings, a collection of Gray's poetry and photographs of the Great Basin filled with his reflections on life and death. This is why R. Guild Gray was the perfect choice for the name of the Virtual Gallery.
Las Vegas Academy's Series of Short Plays Showcases Student Talent in Las Vegas Schools
Las Vegas Academy, one of the magnet schools of the Las Vegas Public School District, has prepared a series of student produced and student led theater performances.
The Five Plays
? You Want Freedom Fries With That?
?An original theater piece about being an American teenager in an increasingly small world, written and conceived by the Roncalli Drama Festival Ensemble, performed at the Roncalli Drama Festival in Poggibonsi, Siena, Italy, in the heart of Tuscany.?
? Mixed Babies
?Five teenage girls of color discuss life, love, relationships, and friendship in this compelling short play.?
? Coffee Con Carnage
?An original sketch conceived and performed by the students of the Mime and Improvisation Class.?
? Sorry, Wrong Number
?A classic one act thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.?
? The Intermission
?A playwright listens clandestinely to the reactions of the intermission crowd at the premiere of his new play: a surprisingly insightful look at how we perceive what others think about our art.?
History of the Las Vegas Academy
Established in 1992 by the Las Vegas Public School District and area universities, the Las Vegas Academy is committed to fostering student skills in the arts and communication. This magnet school includes students from all over Clark County at its campus in an historic urban shopping district.
Las Vegas Schools students pursue a major in one of the following fields: dance, vocal music, instrumental music, international studies, piano, theater, theater technology, and visual arts. The school operates longer than other schools in the area in order to pack in all the subjects that students need to study in this arts intensive program. Classes are organized on a block schedule, in which students take regular academic classes every other day and major classes every day.
This aggressive approach to education has earned the Las Vegas Academy many honors, both state and nationwide. Including awards from the White House, Senators Reid, Bryan, and Ensign, former Governor Miler and former Las Vegas mayor Jones, the Academy has also garnered attention from the International Network of Performing and Visual Arts schools and been labeled a STAR school. In addition to winning three Grammy Signature School awards, the Academy has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as both a New American High School and a U.S. Blue Ribbon School.
The Student Experience at Las Vegas Academy
Students of the Las Vegas Academy compete through a tough screening process just to attend, including an audition as well as maintaining a high grade point average in their regular academic subjects. While students at other area high schools attend class for 50 minutes a day, students at Las Vegas Academy go for 86 minutes. The school day also goes one hour longer overall. This hard work pays off with over sixty percent of graduates enrolling in four year universities. The series of short plays to be produced by the theater and theater technology departments will be just one of many ways in which Las Vegas Academy students present their hard work and dedication to the local community.
Detroit Schools Partner for Engineering Success
The Detroit Schools has partnered with local universities to get students thinking about careers in science and engineering. Students at different levels of the Detroit Public Schools are being targeted in a statewide effort to get more women and minorities enrolled in engineering programs. One program that makes this its mission is the Detroit Area Pre College Engineering Program (DAPCEP).
The Detroit Area Pre College Engineering Program
DAPCEP works with area students in three main ways. It partners with local public school teachers to design a curriculum that encourages creative thinking in the sciences. To fulfill this goal, DAPCEP sponsors science fairs, field trips, and university seminars for students and teachers.
DAPCEP also runs a Saturday program in conjunction with local universities and corporations to provide enrichments activities for students in grades 4 ? 12. These activities focus on different aspects of math, computer science, engineering, physics, chemistry, and communication skills.
In addition to its programs during the school year, DAPCEP brings local public school students into universities for summer programs. Some of the summer programs are residential, with students living on campus for a few weeks and getting a real taste for the college life. Other programs provide transportation to and from campus.
University Partnerships
DAPCEP's list of university partners is certainly impressive.
? University of Detroit Mercy
? Michigan State University
? University of Michigan Ann Arbor
? Wayne State University
? Lawrence Technical University
? Oakland University
? University of Michigan Dearborn
? Michigan Technological University
The Little Engineer Program
In addition to their very successful middle school and high school programs, DAPCEP also has something for smaller learners. Its Little Engineer Program is for students in grades K ? 3. These Saturday classes for both children and their parents focus on teaching and learning math, science, pre-engineering, and reading.
How to Join DAPCEP
The selection process for DAPCEP can be daunting for parents anxious to give this opportunity to their children. DAPCEP holds an open house each fall for prospective students and parents. Students must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average in all their school subjects. Other factors, such as attendance, and taking certain academic subjects in the regular school curriculum, such as physics, chemistry, and higher level math, also play a role in student selection. For many programs, students also need letters of recommendation from their math and science teachers.
Summer Course Offerings
DAPCEP's university partnerships are providing a range of summer courses of Detroit area students. Here are some highlights:
? Watershed Investigators (University of Detroit Mercy)
Students will investigate local water quality in a series of real ? world experiments.
? How Math Rocks Our World (Tabernacle)
Students will see how their math and science skills compare with other students around the world, in particular China and India.
? Wireless Integrated Microsystems (Michigan State University)
Hands ? on activities and presentations from nine different engineering majors offered at the university.
? Engineering Intensive Workshop ( Michigan Technological University)
Students choose two areas of study, ranging from Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Aided Engineering, Computer Programming, Material Engineering, Chemical Engineering and others.
All of the DAPCEP programs emphasize the Detroit Area Public School District's commitment to ensuring that students have the opportunity to explore many challenging areas and gain further insights into the college experience.