Pekin High School - Pekinian Yearbook (Pekin, IL)

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PROUDLY CONTINUING A HERITAGE OF SPIRIT IN ACADEMICS

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Fine Arts Offer Cultural Outlets Capturing the attention through sight and sound are the Fine Arts of Pekin High. The creative works of students have appealed to observers with rewarding approval. The Fine Arts include music (instrumental and vocal), communication, art, and dance. If you're looking for the sound of music at Pekin High, there's plenty of it in the band, orchestra, and chorus — all open to interested and qualified students. If you play an instrument, you could be in Marching, or Concert, Band. Orchestra is open to any student who plays a string instrument. As far as singing is concerned, there's also variety in Freshman Chorus, Sophomore Choir, and Concert Choir, directed by Mr. Scott Johnson and Mr. Don Va-lente. More than 500 students are involved in the music groups. Band is directed by Mr. Dan Gannon, head of the Music Department. Orchestra is instructed by Mr. Johnson. Theory and history classes (offered to juniors and seniors) are taught by Mr. Va-lente. Everyone must express himself somehow; communication of feelings is a basic human act. The Speech and Theater Arts are headed by department chairman Mr. Doug Springer. Speech Communications I and II are offered on both campuses. Speech I is divided into three parts; critical thinking, self-expression, and defending expression, (which includes debate). Speech II is an extension of Speech I, with emphasis of expression through prose and poetry. Radio and Television, available to juniors and seniors, teaches background history of both media and broadcast skills. Senior Brett McGill earned a job as an announcer for the radio station WWCT FM106 after his experience in Radio and Television class. Drama 1 and II, open to all students, are taught by Mr. Glenn E. Smith. Drama I stresses communication and expression through theatreacting and the technical as- pects such as lighting, setting, and make-up. Drama II concentrates mostly upon acting — how to analyze characters motives and convey them to an audience. Mr. Smith also teaches Humanities, which gives students exposure to classical music, art, and writing, along with a unit on death. The Humanities class took two field trips: one to a cemetery and crematorium and the other to the Art Institute and a play in Chicago. A sample of the creativity and imagination from PCHS students can be seen through their talent portrayed on canvas, expressed in a sculpture, or designed in crafts. Introductory Art courses are Art I and II. Students learn the fundamentals in drawing and painting and cover such project areas as people, nature, watercolor, and landscapes. Print-making involves projects as cardboard printing, silkscreen printing, and lithograph printing. Sculpture classes work with plaster, wood wire, stone, and other materials. Painting deals with techniques using acrylics, preparing canvases, and making frames. Jewelry involves designing and producing various kinds of jewelry and polishing jewelry metals. Macrame, basketry, and stitchery are some of the areas covered in Textiles. Teaching Art are department chairman Mr. Dean Grethey, Mr. Ralph Heston, and Mrs. Judith Barth. One of the most inspiring and liveliest forms of the fine arts is dance. PCHS dance students learn various dances including jazz, ballet, and modern. Instructors are Mrs. Jana Bollinder and Mrs. Delores Ely. Fifteen dancers qualified for the State High School Dance Festival. The girls performed a ballet to Adagio Cantabi-le, an excerpt from A Musical Joke by Mozart. Fine Arts can provide a useful and rewarding background for students interested in creative work. Explaining how caskets are placed in crypts is Mr. Glenn Smith during the death unit in Humanities.