Music Music is taught from a distinctively Christian viewpoint. We sing songs that are honoring to God and uplifting. When singing and playing instruments, we remind students to whom we are singing, and encourage them to do their best. We review and learn new concepts that build upon already learned concepts, and evaluate student progress by testing and performance observation. Grades 7 & 8: Students are offered a variety of music elective courses including band/orchestra (Lion’s Pride Band), mixed choir (Lion’s Pride Ambassadors), and specialty courses such as Worship Leading, World Drumming or History of Jazz. “Music Parachute,” an overview of Western and World music history, is offered to those students who are not enrolled in band or choir. Grades K-6: Students in grades K-6 have general music classes twice a week, and explore a wide variety of instruments, dances and songs. Students in 5th and 6th grade have the opportunity to join Lion’s Pride Cubs, a choir that performs in various chapels, and also performs a fully staged and costumed musical during the Christmas season. Students in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade also have the opportunity to join Lion’s Pride Beginner & Intermediate Band. Theatrical training and performing helps students develop their creative thinking, crucial communication skills, and confidence. When working together on a play or musical, students find opportunities to build something of value together. They grow in their compassionate imagination - learning to imagine sympathetically the predicament of another person. Performing in a play or musical is a great source of joy and self-discovery. At CHA, students have many opportunities to pursue acting and creative expression. Grades 9-12: Upper School students study basic acting, stagecraft and theater history through the Language Arts program, and perform together a group of one-act plays in the fall. Students also learn about aspects of technical production by training and working in areas such as stage lighting, sound, and visual presentation. In the winter term, students have an opportunity to perform in a musical production, chosen from the classic repertory of great musical theater. Grades 7 & 8: Students have the opportunity to take elective courses such as Persuasive and Dramatic Speech through the Language Arts program. The culmination of CHA students’ 8th grade year is the annual 8th Grade Play. Through the guidance of Language Arts instructor Sharon James-Ledbetter, the students of the 8th grade produce, direct, and perform a fully staged and costumed play. Lion’s Pride Ambassadors’ Choir also presents a fully staged and costumed musical every spring. Musicals are chosen from the classic repertory of great Broadway musicals, adapted for middle school students. Recent performances include Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver, and The Music Man. Grades 5 & 6: Lion’s Pride Cubs serves as both a choir and a musical theater performing “company.” Students perform a fully staged and costumed musical with a Christmas theme in December, and receive training in basic acting and stagecraft. Cubs also have opportunities to work as chorus members in larger musicals staged at CHA. Grades K-4: Throughout the elementary classes, students present a wide variety of plays and skits for the classroom and chapel. For students in grades 1-4, Christian Youth Theater (CYT) offers an after-school program at CHA where students are taught the basics of stage movement and musical theater, and students present a short musical at the end of the rehearsal period. Visual Art Foundational skills introduced in each grade are reviewed in subsequent grades. All art activities are built on previous activities. Students are taught how to create art and how to use the brain God has created to become visual thinkers. As the student becomes more familiar with the way the brain works and the way art is created, they are taught how to utilize this knowledge not only in the creation of art projects, but in developing these skills to complement all endeavors. For example, strengthening eye/hand coordination through drawing will benefit a student in reading, math and sports. Grades 9-12: Visual art is offered to Upper School students on an elective basis. Courses vary from year to year. Grades 7 & 8: Students in 7th & 8th grade have a variety of visual art offerings to choose from. Courses meet for 4 ½ weeks for either 2 or 4 days per week. Students are required to take a minimum of one art offering each year during 7th & 8th grade. Grades K-6: Students in K-6th grade have visual art once a week for 50 minutes.
Fine Arts: Creativity and Celebration
Music is a language, one way of communicating to one another and to our Heavenly Father. Music is truly a gift God gave His believers in order to praise and worship Him, and it is gift that will remain with us in the life to come. The teaching of this language includes cognitive skill, aural training, physical training to sing or play an instrument and aesthetic discovery. Christian Heritage Academy is a singing school!
Grades 9-12: Vocal and instrumental ensembles are offered as elective courses to high school students. Students join with other students from Christian schools around the Midwest to sing and play in the ACSI Music Festival every March.
Theater
The theatrical arts attempt to translate what is unseen into what is seen – the substance of things we human beings long and hope for, mirroring the New Testament definition of faith. The Lord Jesus was artistic and theatrical in his ministry on earth. His parables and prayers were unexpected, dramatic, provocative, and creative. Now as His ambassadors, Christians need the ability to articulate our faith in a persuasive and winsome way more than ever.
Acknowledgement of God as the Author of all that is created is the foundation for all creative thought and process in the Visual Art program. Students are encouraged to consider God's goodness and the beauty of His creation as they select subjects for art projects. From the youngest age, they are asked to make choices that would honor God. The older art student is encouraged to develop a deeper respect for the character of God and for the beauty of the world He created. While the integration of faith and the creation of artwork is a daily, intentional part of instruction, specific art activities of a spiritual or biblical theme are incorporated into the curriculum.