SAAS Watch

This fall, Seattle Academy 8th graders collaborated remotely to produce Help Desk: A-Stay-At-Home Play, by Don Zolidis. Presented on November 12, this was the first 8th grade show rehearsed and performed entirely on Zoom – quite a different venue from our Black Box Theatre on the SAAS campus. 

Twenty student actors prepared ten scenes from this new comedy written specifically for remote production. Directed by Michael Cruz (Performing Arts Chair), and coached by new faculty member, Ty Greenwood (Rhetoric), students worked together online in break-out rooms to learn and perform two and three-person scenes depicting funny and even absurd Help Desk calls. 

In a recent effort to support productive discussion, analysis, and activism in the fight for racial justice, Pitzer College, a nationally top-ranked undergraduate liberal arts and sciences institution, created a Racial Justice Initiative. Seattle Academy is proud to congratulate our very own Ben Sievers ’18 on receiving the award. 

Among this year’s new faculty, Seattle Academy welcomes back Francesca Rosati ’15. After SAAS, Francesca attended Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and in 2019, received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting with a minor in art history. Francesca went on to complete RISD’s Master of Arts in Teaching. This intensive, one-year program prepares artists and designers for teacher certification in arts education for students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. We are pleased to have Francesca at SAAS teaching Visual Arts for 6th grade and Beginning Studio Arts open to students in grades 9 through 12.

Halloween shifted in 2020, due to the pandemic and social distancing. On Friday, October 30, Seattle Academy’s Upper and Middle School Coordinators and the Parent Association partnered together to bring Halloween fun to our students on Zoom. Middle School students enjoyed a virtual pumpkin carving contest sponsored by the Parent Association and facilitated by coordinators.

Seattle Academy drama teacher and director, Michael Cimino, and Upper School students have taken our Culture of Performance to a new level. They have transformed the Upper School musical into a production for these socially distanced times bringing Songs for a New World to the virtual stage on November 4.

With this assignment, students got off Zoom and outside! After an introduction to Goldsworthy’s work, students ventured outdoors to collect natural materials. Next, they created thumb-nail sketches and plans to execute their pieces. Using elements of art and principles of design, students created sculptures along the lines of Goldsworthy’s work.