11/28/25 Fine Arts Department News

⛄'Tis The Season.....for Fine Arts Performances!!!

Click the link above to see a full list of all Fine Arts Performance Dates!⛄

Congratulations to the winners of the annual "pumpkitecture" (pumpkins carved into buildings) competition! As voted on by their peers:

The Highland Park Debate team has delivered outstanding performances across several major tournaments this season, facing top-tier competition from around the state and nation. We are proud to recognize our debaters who advanced to elimination rounds and earned top speaker honors. Congratulations to all our competitors for their hard work and success! Go Scots!

AP Art students took a field trip to see Ancient Roman Sculpture at the Kimbell Museum (on view for the first time outside of Italy!) and do formal studies on some contemporary masters at the Modern Museum of Ft. Worth.

TAG Art students got to go visit an art installation at Sweet Tooth Hotel and participate in an art walk in downtown Dallas. THANK YOU to PC Tag Foundation for making this trip possible.

Art 1 students created wearable cardboard sculptures and showed off their work during our red-carpet runway celebration! Congrats to Addy Ortiz for winning Best in Cardboard Show for her Wall-E sculpture.

The Highlander Band will be hosting a "fill the trailer" event benefitting InnerFamily Faith Services in early December. Stay Tuned to the Band Instagram/Facebook for more information!

Small ensembles from the band will be performing at Stanley Korshak on December 9th and around HP in several different places throughout December! Check in with the Band website for details!

On November 6th, 44 members of our choir traveled to Dallas Baptist University to rehearse and perform in the TMEA Region Concert! We had singers representing HP in the Region Choir, District Choir, and 9/10 Honor Choir!

Congratulations to our HPHS choir students who made it past the Pre-Area round of TMEA competition! Caroline Davidson, Raj Luthra, Luka Anderson and Jaron Pierce will compete in AREA auditions at J.J. Pierce in January. Only one more step to TMEA STATE CHAMPS!

And congratulations to our student alternates for AREA, Margaret Bickel, Caroline Etheridge, Brooks Buis, Harrison Piering and Cade Thornton.

The HPMS Orchestra, Band, and Choir came together on November 11 in the MIS/HPMS Auditorium for a moving Veterans Day Concert dedicated to the brave men and women who have served our country. Audiences enjoyed powerful performances from each ensemble, and the evening concluded with a special joint piece by the Band and Orchestra to honor our veterans. It was a heartfelt night of music, remembrance, and community.

Please congratulate the following students on their selection into the All-Region Choir! They auditioned and earned a spot in the choir which will perform on January 24th. Out of our 44 students who auditioned, 36 made it! Not only that, but out of the 13 audition rooms, we had 8 first chairs (ranked the highest in the room). Go Raiders!!

Armstrong First Graders performed their Thanksgiving program, "Thanksgiving at Plymouth" and "Bert's Thanksgiving". The program included accompaniments using Orff instruments and unpitched rhythm instruments, as well as a line dance to "Turkey in the Straw". Everyone ended the program with a rousing rendition of the "Turkey Tango"! All Eagles Tango! 😄

Armstrong Fourth Graders are moving forward with their Recorder Karate, and several are currently working on the Super Star designation. Hudson Justice was this year's first Super Star! Congratulations for work well done, Hudson!

The students at Boone have put on two wonderful programs so far this semester with the 3rd grade Halloween performance and the 2nd grade Veterans Day program!

Preschool, kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders at UP celebrated Grandfriends Day on November 6. Each grade level performed upbeat patriotic songs, the Armed Forces Medley, and The UP Panther Song.

Here’s a few great things happening in the UP Art Room…

Kindergartens learned about the landscapes and their various parts – foreground, middle ground, and background – and created either a warm color or cool color fall landscape that really captures the season.

2nd graders just wrapped up an embroidery unit and their hard work and persistence really paid off, as you can see from these adorable, finished artworks!

4th graders really showed off their unique personalities in these super colorful, abstract self-portraits. After painting in reverse using warm or cool colors on plastic transparencies, students created a Gelli print with the opposite color family for their backgrounds.