10/31/25 Fine Arts Department News

High School Musicians were recognized at the October 21st School Board Meeting. Band and Choir students competed at the UIL State Solo & Ensemble Contest in May and earned a Division 1 rating on their solo and/or ensemble performances! Congratulations to these State Champions!

Congratulations to the annual MAPS sidewalk chalk "Draw Highland Park High School" contest winners!

Sculpture 1 class created Papier Maché Fish and Birds. They began building the form with a water bottle and wrapping it with crumpled paper and tape. The object was then covered with a paste and finished with acrylic paint when dry.

Mrs. Powell’s Honors Art I students creating masterpieces, one layer at a time with Paper Mache, cardboard construction techniques and paper clay.

After earning straight Division 1 (Superior Ratings) from every judge at the UIL Region Contest on October 22nd at Kincaide Stadium, the Highlander Band headed to the UIL Area Contest on November 1st! The Band advanced to UIL Area Marching Finals, placing 5th overall for the day! Congratulations to The Highlander Band on a successful season!

On October 18th, members of the HPHS Orchestra competed in the TMEA Region 20 Orchestra Audition. Congratulations to the following students who made a Region Ensemble:

Mark Altschuler, Blake Koch, Caitlyn Luu, Vito Pogue, Thomas Zhang, Aj Flaskas, Lucas Chen, Evelyn Wells, Olivia Neilson, Jackson Barnes, Tej Patel, William Guo, Momo Zhan, Lillian Williams, Grace Wang, Sabrina Taylor, Alec Fang, Raymond Wu, Stella Zhan, Claire Wu, Elly Zhu, Sophia Jiang, Deniz Dogan, Cameron Liu, Alexandra Popa, Hannah Wu, Thuy-Vi Le, Samarjeet Singh, Catherine Brimmage, and Spencer Wright

For spooky season, 6th graders learned about the bones in their hands and used oil pastels to create x-ray skeleton hands. They traced their hands, drew in 27 bones, and chose 3 monochromatic colors to fill them in. Then, they used a white pastel to make their hands glow.

The 8th grade Raider Choir members represented HPMS on Monday, October 27th, by singing the National Anthem at the Dallas Mavs vs. OKC game at the American Airlines Center!

On October 18th, members of the Raider Orchestra competed for a chair in the TMEA Region 20 Middle School Honor Orchestras. 27 string players will have the opportunity to perform in the Middle School Region Orchestra Concert on December 13th! Congratulations students!

The Armstrong Second Graders recently presented their International Dance Program. They performed dances from Bolivia, Brazil, Germany, England, and Serbia. These community dances featured circle dances, dances with partners, dances in longways sets, and dances with scarves. This energetic program was enthusiastically received by both the school audience and the parents.

The Armstrong Fourth Graders have begun playing the recorder during music class, and they are loving it! Having earned all twelve Recorder Karate belts, this year's first Black Belt is Jack Rollins. Jack has even formed a Recorder Club which meets after school. The members help each other with notes and fingering while also concentrating on correct rhythm reading

3rd and 4th Graders at Boone enjoyed using cardboard to create masks! 2nd Graders used watercolor to create a spooky value project.

First grade students in Mrs. Conklin's music class played xylophones and metallophones while singing songs that rhyme.

Each 9 weeks we announce our “Golden Art Star” awards here at Hyer. These awards are for students who show that they are helpful, respectful, and responsible at all times in art class. There is only one award per homeroom, so it is very special!

Kindergarten:

Coleman Harding

Anne Moreland Patterson

Harry Holmes

Stella Smith

First Grade:

Cruise Clark

Will Nowlin

Poppy Pederson

Mimi Coleman

Second Grade:

Blake Louden

Brooke Bellomy

Libby Carter

Halle Hoffman

Third Grade:

Duke Morgan

Vale Clark

Cece Davis

Willa Petka

Fourth Grade:

Brady Cameron

Jade Wong

Molly Meindl

Mollie O'Dwyer