Oxford High School art and band students may have more of a choice of classes to take in the next couple of school years.
The school board approved a revision of Oxford’s fine arts curriculum at their meeting May 10 in an effort to give students more of a choice when it comes to art and band classes.
Every five years the state of Michigan asks teachers to revise their current curriculum and revise how the program runs if necessary.
Mary Preczewski, who teaches high school and elementary art, and Becky Ziemianski, who teaches art at OHS, both presented a proposal in regards to the art program at the high school.
After studying Lake Orion High School’s art department, the they realized they wanted to give their students more of a choice when it comes to choosing an art class. The proposal is to split the basic Design class into three different mediums and extend two of the current classes to more advanced levels; Fibers and Metal Art, which would cover jewelry, and a Graphic Design/Commercial Art 2, which would focus more on job oriented software.
The current curriculum entails a Design 1 class, which covers the basic fundamentals, a Ceramics and Sculpture class, a Design in Materials class, Advanced drawing, Commercial art, and Advanced Studio. Preczewski said the new proposal would allow students to start a medium where they feel most comfortable.
‘Students who like ceramic and sculptures would start there while students who like to draw can start there,? she said.
Ziemianski said that right now, art students at the high school only have the option of moving on to one class, which is Design 2. With the revised curriculum, there will be at least four new choices. She also said the classes would be one semester long, offering more variety to the students.
‘There’s not that long of a commitment,? she said.
Although resource materials for these new areas weren’t discussed at the meeting, Ziemianski said the approximate cost for new resources would be $9,000. By the 2006-2007 school year, she said it might get as high as $15,000.
The music program at the high school will also be making a significant revision. Jim Gibbons, who teaches high school bands, and Gary Ashton, who teaches Jazz band at the high school, both presented a proposal to change the Marching Band schedule and add two new classes for the 2005-2006 school year
Gibbons said band students have approximately only one hour to rehearse in school and that during fall semester all students must participate in Marching Band. He said students usually don’t sign up for band because of this mandatory involvement or they sign up reluctantly.
To cure this problem, Gibbons proposed moving Marching Band practice outside of the classroom; specifically, two nights a week for 2 1/2 hours each. A system that high schools like Clarkston and Avondale use regularly. He said this would allow the school to offer Concert Band for all four marking periods instead of just three. Currently, one semester is totally dedicated to marching band.
‘Concert Band and Symphonic Band students would have to march unless they had conflicts of interest from sports and other things,? he said.
Gibbons said the students responded to this proposal better than some parents and he has high hopes it will be more beneficial. He said the Marching Band’s previous rehearsals spent too much time setting up and only getting about 35 minutes of practice.
Another revision the music department was proposing was to add two new classes to the music program at the high school.
One is a Music Appreciation class that would be nonperformance based. Ashton said it would give teachers the opportunity to educate students on the culture and history of music.
He said a guitar and bass guitar class would also be added.
‘One of the things we are trying to do this year is reach out to the students at the high school that are not into regular band programs,? he said.
The band classes at Oxford Middle School would also be experiencing changes, but not as drastic as the high school. OMS would only experience changes in who directs the bands, but classes would stay the same.
With all of the recent budget shortages in the school district, Superintendent Virginia Brennan-Kyro said it was important to address that these new classes are applicable due to a reorganization of staff members, not hiring anyone new.
‘The new course offerings are not costing us any additional dollars and that’s why we’re able to do it,? she said.

would be nonperformance based. Ashton said it would give teachers the opportunity to educate students on the culture and history of music. He said a guitar and bass guitar class would also be added.
‘One of the things we are trying to do this year is reach out to the students at the high school that are not into regular band programs,? he said.
The band classes at Oxford Middle School would also be experiencing changes, but not as drastic as the high school. OMS would only experience changes in who directs the bands, but classes would stay the same.
With all of the recent budget shortages in the school district, Superintendent Virginia Brennan-Kyro said it was important to address that these new classes are applicable due to a reorganization of staff members, not hiring anyone new.
‘The new course offerings are not costing us any additional dollars and that’s why we’re able to do it,’she said.