Oak Ridge Today

Education Foundation to award grants April 24

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Woodland Elementary School teacher Megan Sauer is pictured above with one of her students demonstrating her 2018 grant “Communication for All.” (Photo courtesy Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation)

The Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation will award more than $99,000 in grants to Oak Ridge teachers at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 24.

Oak Ridge High School’s retired math teacher and former department head Benita Albert will be the featured speaker at the event, sharing her talk titled “We’ve Come a Long Way Teachers.”

The ceremony is open to the public, and it will be held in the Pollard Auditorium at ORAU beginning at 2:30 p.m. Demonstrations and displays of some of the projects and technology funded by the Foundation will be given in the lobby after the formal ceremony. Light refreshments will be provided courtesy of Oak Ridge Utility District, a press release said.

The 2019 grant recipients are as follows: [Read more…]

Tonight: ORHS Band concert with 8th Grade Bands, JazzRams

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Pictured above: The Oak Ridge High School Combined Concert and Symphonic Bands. (Photo by McEachern’s Photography via Oak Ridge Schools and used with permission)

Pictured above: The Oak Ridge High School Combined Concert and Symphonic Bands. (Photo by McEachern’s Photography via Oak Ridge Schools and used with permission)

 

The Oak Ridge High School Concert and Symphonic Bands will perform Tuesday, March 6, in the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center Auditorium.

The show will open with a guest performance by the Robertsville Middle School JazzRams, under the direction of Mike Spirko, director of the ORHS Band. This group of 6th-8th graders was formed and rehearses during school in the electives period at RMS, a press release said.

Spirko will then take the stage with the ORHS Concert Band for several selections, including Richard Saucedo’s “Triumphant Fanfare,” the press release said.

The Symphonic Band’s evening program will include the classic “Shenandoah,” directed by ORHS Band Director Spence Milligan. [Read more…]

ORHS Band performing with UT Pride of Southland Band on Saturday

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Seniors in the 2017 Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Marching Band are pictured above with a new banner. (Photo courtesy Merny Hughey)

Seniors in the 2017 Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Marching Band are pictured above with a new banner. (Photo courtesy Merny Hughey)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10 a.m. Sept. 25.

The Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Marching Band is performing with the Pride of the Southland Band this Saturday at the University of Tennessee and UMass football game.

The WildBand will participate in the march to the stadium and the patriotic themed halftime performance, a press release said.

“Kickoff at noon makes an early rehearsal call at UT of 7:15 a.m. tough but absolutely doable,” the press release said. “We were happy to rearrange our fall competition schedule in order to accept the invitation from Dr. Don Ryder, director of bands at UT. With all four band directors in the Oak Ridge Schools system being alumni of the Pride—Spence Milligan and Mike Spirko (also former Pride drum major) at ORHS, Sean Rutherford at Jefferson Middle School, Elizabeth Reams at Robertsville Middle School—it will be a homecoming for them as well as a once-in-a-lifetime experience for the ORHS Band students.”

There is an added connection since there are currently six ORHS alumni marching with the Pride, two of whom have siblings currently in the WildBand. The six are Delaney Thurston, Maggie Nathan, Kaitlin Ledden, Marah Yaun, Hunter Gray, and Matthew Martin. [Read more…]

ORHS Brass Quintet at Band Concert this Thursday

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wildband-brass-quintet-and-santa

Santa with the Oak Ridge High School Brass Quintet: Michael Bytell-Lancer—trumpet, Logan Swain—trombone, Ty Dahl—trumpet, Travis Pitz—horn, and Issair Franquez—tuba. (Photo credit: Atom Ray Photography, Angela Carr, photographer; used with permission)

 

The Oak Ridge High School Brass Quintet welcomed Santa to Jackson Square on Saturday, and the Brass Quintet will be just one of the student groups to be enjoyed at the ORHS Band Concert this Thursday.

“Band directors Spence Milligan and Mike Spirko—along with the JazzKats, Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and Combined Bands—invite you to come and enjoy an evening performance with a little jazz, a little jingle—and a lot of jolly!” organizers said in a press release. “The always popular annual rendition of ‘Sleigh Ride,’ by Leroy Anderson, performed by the Combined Bands will surely make your season bright!” [Read more…]

ORHS concert to feature JazzKats, Concert Band, Symphonic Band

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2015-16 All East Students

Oak Ridge High School 2015-16 All East Students are pictured above. (Submitted photo)

 

A Thursday night concert at Oak Ridge High School will feature award-winning ORHS groups performing in the community for the first time since Christmas.

Among the recent honors: The Oak Ridge High School Band placed 21 students through auditions into the ETSBOA All East Honors Bands. ETSBOA is the East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Association.

A couple of the ORHS students were actually chosen on two different instruments, a press release said. Two in the group, Ryan Armstrong and Thomas Colburn, earned seats in All State as well.

“These outstanding students, along with the entire Symphonic and Concert Bands, also earned a superior rating (all 1s in performance and sight reading) at the State Concert Festival under the direction of Spence Milligan and Mike Spirko,” the press release said.

Now, the ORHS Band students and directors have invited the community to enjoy a diverse program of music on Thursday, April 21. A sample of some of the evening’s performances include Director Mike Spirko with the JazzKats opening on “Come Out Swingin’,” followed by the Concert Band performing “West Side Story.” [Read more…]

Education Foundation to award $85,000 in grants at April 13 ceremony

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Jay Searcy

Jay Searcy

As part of its “Making the Critical Difference” campaign, the Oak Ridge Public Schools Education Foundation will award approximately $85,000 in grants to Oak Ridge teachers at a ceremony on Wednesday, April 13.

Jay Searcy, a national award-winning sports writer and Oak Ridge Class of 1952 alumnus, will be the featured speaker at the event sharing his talk entitled, “How to Improve Our Schools Without Knowing How.” The ceremony is open to the public and will be held in the Oak Ridge High School cafeteria beginning at 4 p.m. April 13. Demonstrations and displays of some of the projects and technology funded by the Foundation will be given after the formal ceremony. Light refreshments will be provided courtesy of Oak Ridge Utility District.

The 2016 grant recipients are as follows:

  • Oak Ridge Preschool—Margaret Johnston
  • Glenwood Elementary—Amelia Bell, Lauren Blair, and Gwen Harrell
  • Linden Elementary—Ginger Adams and Lisa Buckner
  • Willow Brook Elementary—Ashley Branson and Andrew McDonald
  • Woodland Elementary—Susie Carden, Kim Howard, Michael Martin, and Evan Parker
  • Jefferson Middle School—Jim Dodson, Emily Haverkamp, Heather Henderlight, Julie McCullough, Lexie Scott, and Brian Smith
  • Robertsville Middle School—David Goforth, Mariah Kidwell, Mardee Miller, and David Scott
  • Oak Ridge High School—Christina Henry, Spence Milligan, Vidal Moreno, Deanna Pickel, Sharon Thomas, and Will Waterson

[Read more…]

ORHS Marching Band brings ‘The Music of Bond’ to winners circle at Karns, Maryville

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ORHS Wildband Brass on Sept. 26, 2015

The Oak Ridge High School WildBand performs at the Karns Marching Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015, when they won overall top scoring band. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

By Merny Hughey

Congratulations to the Oak Ridge High School Marching Band for winning back to back as the overall top scoring band at the Maryville and Karns Marching Invitational events this month.

Under the direction of Spence Milligan, Mike Spirko, Josh Bibbs, and Sean Greene, with music arranged by Mike Spirko, the students have brought “The Music of Bond” to the winners circle two Saturdays in a row as well as to the Wildcat football games.

From the tuxedo show shirts to our very own James Bond, the band is not only performing difficult music to the beat of our talented percussion section, but also enhancing the iconic Bond music with dance, color, and story from the Color Guard.

The WildBand won the high music score at these first two competitions as well as top scores for Drum Major, Percussion, and Color Guard against other very talented bands that have more practice time due to scheduling. [Read more…]

ORHS Band Concert at Grove Theater Tuesday night

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Oak Ridge High School Band All-East 2014

The Oak Ridge High School Band will play in a rescheduled concert at 7 p.m. today (Tuesday) at the Historic Grove Theater.

The band includes 29 students who earned chairs through auditions to participate in the annual ETSBOA All East Clinic.

“We had the second largest number of band students from any school to participate in the event and had players on flute, B-flat and bass clarinet, bassoon, alto and baritone sax, trumpet, horn, trombone, baritone, tuba, and percussion,” a press release said. “Directors Spence Milligan and Mike Spirko would like to invite you to come enjoy the combined talents of these students and the entire ORHS Band.”

Season ticket holders should note that the date and venue for this concert was rescheduled from February due to weather; bring your tickets! [Read more…]

Oak Ridge Community Band has Labor Day concert

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The Oak Ridge Community Band will performs its annual Labor Day concert on Monday, Sept. 2, at A.K. Bissell Park.

The free concert starts at 7 p.m. at the pavilion behind the Oak Ridge Civic Center. The public is encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets for outdoor seating, and refreshments will be available for sale, a press release said. [Read more…]

Documentary film to feature ORHS band

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Keith McDaniel

Keith McDaniel

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Filming began this week on a documentary film that will feature the Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Band, ORHS Band Director Spence Milligan announced Monday.

The film, entitled “TRADITION: A Year in the Life of the Oak Ridge High School Wildcat Band,” is being produced by Oak Ridger and award-winning documentary filmmaker Keith McDaniel. [Read more…]

ORHS Masquers present ‘The Sound of Music’ this weekend

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Oak Ridge will come alive with “The Sound of Music,” which will be presented at the Performing Arts Center at Oak Ridge High School this weekend, starting this evening.

The Masquers, Oak Ridge High School’s drama club, will perform the musical, which is based on the story of the von Trapp family, who fled Austria to escape the Nazi regime in 1939. The Masquers promise to offer the audience a fresh look at the beloved story, which was first made famous by the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and world famous by the 1965 film adaptation, a press release said.

[Read more…]