Highlighted by poetry, singing and drum performances, Cheltenham High School Black Scholars inducted its latest class in an evening ceremony Wednesday, Nov. 20 in the CHS Little Theatre. After opening remarks from program founder and CHS Vice Principal Craig Metcalfe and interim principal Dr. Renato Lajara, the crowd heard a stirring rendition of “Life Every Voice” from senior Nila Anthony and Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” by senior Akira McDougal. Junior Morgan F. Powell read an original poem and local percussionist Baba Tyrone delivered a drum performance.

Students qualify for the Black Scholars Program by maintaining a 3.0 cumulative, unweighted grade point average and taking at least one Honors or Advanced Placement class. Congratulations to the following students: Sojourna Ali-Orlena, Nathan Ampofo, Gabrielle Barrett, Donya Baxter, Mariah Bennett, Christopher Booth, Taylor Brandt, Madisyn Brandt, Kayla Brockington, Aaliyah Brown, Sanaa Brown, Jaylen Buckner, Saniyah Conn, Jasmine Dashields, Alexis Davis, Ryan Dunkley, Martina Echewa, Nikhil Grobes, Mikel Hackett, Laurha Herard, Autumn Holland, Alanah Jones, Chloe Kirkland, Nana Korsah, Destiny Lewis Upchurch, Jahmore Meyers, Carla Michel, Lisa Omulo, Jaquan Paige, Robert Rodriguez, Abdul Solomun, Arianna Starks, Aneeya Stevens, Aaliyah Thomas, Alaysia Thomas, Dominique Vidal, Joelle Williams and Makayla Weems.

The Black Scholars Program provides support, camaraderie, mentorship, enrichment and leadership development to Cheltenham High School’s high-achieving black students. Last year, Black Scholars participated in the MLK Day of Service, attended empowering events celebrating culture and served as mentors and tutors to other students.  Black Scholars meetings have provided a forum to discuss school, community, national and global issues and platforms to advance social justice issues and advocate for Black youth within the community and beyond.

With 16 numbers by an array of groups, Cheltenham High School vocal arts were in full flourish Thursday evening at the winter choir concert in Stretton Hall. The Concert Choir, Select Choir, Voces Altas, Vwa Ba, Sons of Pitch and Up the Octave performed their own selections. The groups came together to open the concert with the Kenyan folk song “Wana Baraka” and Finnish folk song “Aleleloila” and closed the concert with “River” from the movie “The Mission.”

In between, the concert choir sang the traditional spiritual “Walk Together, Children” and “Wanting Memories.” The Voces Altas performed “Sesere Eeye,” the traditional song and dance from Torres Strait Islands, and the American folk song “Nine Hundred Miles.” The Vwa Ba group performed the traditional Venezuelan song “Canto del Agua” and “Good Old Acapella.” The boys a cappella group Sons of Pitch took the stage following intermission and performed the Jonas Brothers’ “Sucker” and Michael Bublé’s “Nobody but Me,” followed by the girls a cappella group Up the Octave singing Beyoncé’s “Halo” and “Issues.” The select choir finished the group performances with renditions of “How Lovely are the Messengers,” the traditional spiritual “I Can Tell the World” and “Amor de mi Alma.”

Members of the high school’s new Computer Science Honor Society served as computer science ambassadors, bringing coding experiences to a number of younger Cheltenham students in the past weeks as part of Hour of Code. Seniors Jeffery Gaskin and Nate Norward led a calculator take-apart session for the Elkins Park School Leadership Academy program, which group sponsor Sarah Putterman said was an “excellent” lesson. Members also hosted sessions on Edison Robots Micro:bit programming at Wyncote Elementary and Elkins Park Library. 

In his second consecutive trip to the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 11 Chorus Festival, junior Bass 2 Caelan Donahue earned a spot to perform at the Region VI Chorus Festival February 27-29 at North Penn High School. Donahue earned the regional selection through a competitive audition process at this past weekend’s festival at Springfield Township High School. 

Senior Bass 1 Roy Nussbaum also participated in the festival, which included more than 160 singers from across Bucks and Montgomery counties. Donahue and Nussbaum performed in a concert under the direction of Dr. Cristian Grases of University of Southern California. 

According to CHS Choirs Director and Music Department Chair Jenny Hutton, “Our student musicians beautifully represented Cheltenham during two days” of the festival.

The PMEA District 11 comprises all levels of public, private, parochial, college and university, as well as retired music educators, administrators and music industry representatives from throughout Bucks and Montgomery Counties. The organization aims to advance the study of music education throughout the commonwealth and encourage excellence in the study and teaching of music. The association supports and promotes quality music education through statewide workshops, conferences, performances and festivals.

Diction, tone and pitch were on point as the Cheltenham High School choir groups, led by choir director Jenny Hutton, shared their amazing vocal talents on Tuesday as they toured the entire district and performed at each school and the administration building.

The girls a capella group Up the Octave sang “Issues” by Julia Michaels and the boys a capella group Sons of Pitch sang “Help” by The Beatles. The Select Choir sang "I Can Tell the World" by Moses Hogan and "Amor de mi Alma" by Z. Randall Stroope.

The touring ensemble, danced and sang Frank Sinatra’s “High Hopes” and “City of Stars” from the movie “La La Land.”

The district tour left many students feeling the beat, as they sang, hummed and danced down hallways and in classrooms throughout the rest of the school day and even once they arrived home. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xld7f482GTc

Eight Cheltenham High School girls have been working hard fine-tuning their routines in advance of the debut of the CHS Dance Squad at halftime of the boys basketball game on Tuesday, Feb. 4. Dancers include juniors Trinity Burroughs, Nibia Larocque, Jaimie Sanders, Journey Stallworth, sophomores Whitney Dixon, Laurha Herard and Summer Powell and freshman Enri Tellado. District employee Kira Jones serves as coach and choreographer.

Jones has the goal of the team developing into a co-ed extracurricular pursuit which performs at games and other district events, participates in dance competitions and workshops and acquires the educational foundation of all dance styles.

“The goal is to perform with an ambiance that embodies the discipline, skill and commitment of a collegiate dance team, build student morale and increase student participation in the performing arts,” said Jones, who aspires to help students obtain college scholarships in dance

The squad will host auditions for the 2020-21 school year toward the end of this school year.

At this past weekend’s Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 11 Chorus Festival auditions, CHS Select Choir members junior Caelan Donahue (Bass 2) and senior Roy Nussbaum (Bass 1) were selected to represent Cheltenham at the PMEA District Chorus Festival at Springfield Township High School in January. Donahue is making a return trip to the District Chorus Festival, while Nussbaum is making his first. The duo was chosen from a pool of nearly 350 singers from across Bucks and Montgomery Counties. 

The concert band performed “Rhythm Stand” by Jennifer Higdon, “In the Bleak Midwinter” by Gustav Holtz with arrangement by Bullock and “Electricity” by Daniel Bukvich. The symphonic band’s set included the Ralph Vaughn Williams piece “Flourish for Wind Band,” “Colonial Song” by Percy Grainger with arrangement from Wagner and “Pedal to the Metal” by David Gillingham.

The concert strings performed “Fantasia for Strings” by Elliot del Borgo, the Hall-arranged Irish ballad “Slane (Be Thou My Vision),” which included the string trio of freshmen Celia Bluestine and Kaylee Brown and sophomore Grace Gilbert, and the Mannheim Steamroller version of “Faeries” with senior Clay Cohen on drumset. The chamber orchestra wrapped up the show with Bizet’s “L’Arlesienne Suite No. 1” and “Perseus” by Soon Hee Newbold.

https://youtu.be/AawdL6BpKwY

After a rigorous day of auditions, (l to r) seniors Chris Luk (cello), Naomi Aires (cello) and  Ifenna Amaefuna (violin) were selected to perform at the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 11 Orchestra Festival at Hatboro Horsham High School January 29-31. Aires, Amaefuna and Luk were chosen from a pool of hundreds of students from schools across Bucks and Montgomery counties. As a junior, Aires became the first Cheltenham cellist to qualify for the PMEA All-State Festival since 2008 after her successful audition at the PMEA Region VI Orchestra Festival. The District 11 Orchestra Festival is followed by the Region Orchestra Festival March 12-14 at Neshaminy High School and the PMEA Annual Conference in Hershey.

The PMEA District 11 comprises all levels of public, private, parochial, college and university, as well as retired music educators, administrators and music industry representatives from throughout Bucks and Montgomery Counties. The organization aims to advance the study of music education throughout the commonwealth and encourage excellence in the study and teaching of music. The association supports and promotes quality music education through statewide workshops, conferences, performances and festivals.

Launched this past year, the Cheltenham chapter of the National Art Honor Society (NAHS) inducted its second class on Tuesday, Jan. 28. To gain induction, members must complete service hours and hold at least a 3.0 GPA. Members are strongly encouraged to take one art class and hold a B average in that course. 

“Art is an experience that anyone can provide so It is a privilege to sponsor the Cheltenham High School National Art Honor Society,” said Carlos Nunez. “As an educator and fine artist, I find it awesome to see young artists providing this level of commitment to the arts.”

Following Nunez’ opening remarks at the induction, NAHS Treasurer Isabelle Beatus and President Laura Darling made remarks before announcing this year’s inductees. The remainder of the group leadership representing its more than 20 members includes Kyra Quigley (vice president), Abby Tabas (secretary) and historians Genevieve Gorman, Elin McLaughlin, Dominique Vidal and Katie Denyer.

This class of inductees included James Beatus, Abbey Bowers, Avery Cartwright, Brenna Farley, Emily Grassi, Elisabeth Kokorin, Madison Liang, Farren Lefitt, Shannia McBryde, Maya Nathanson, Angia Nguyen, Hannah Stanley, Henry Sywulak-Herr, Kevin Tieu, Savannah Vidal, Melena Walter and Robyn Walter.

In 1978, the National Art Education Association began the NAHS to inspire and recognize students who have shown an outstanding ability and interest in art. With nearly 60,000 members, the program supports members in their efforts to attain the highest standards in art scholarship, character and service and to bring art education to the attention of the school and community.