AROUND CAMPUS
Making Music Together : Spence / Saint David ’ s Ensemble Collaboration
A number of years ago , the third-grade Saint David ’ s boys collaborated with the third-grade girls from The Spence School for a program we called “ The Greatest Hits .” When Music Director Jeffrey Moore was asked to reach out to a girls school for a collaboration with our Philharmonic Ensemble , he immediately thought of Spence . “ When I contacted their Performing Arts Director , he was thrilled to bring his middle school orchestra to Saint David ’ s for a joint performance ,” said Mr . Moore . The groups scheduled three rehearsals and the boys and girls played G . F . Handel ’ s La Réjouissance from the Music for the Royal Fireworks and G . Holst ’ s Jupiter , Bringer of Joy from The Planets at Saint David ’ s annual Winter Concert on January 26 , 2023 . Gregory Harrington from Spence conducted the Handel piece and Saint David ’ s Ensemble Director Philip Hough conducted the Holst . The plan is to continue the collaboration and to perform together at Spence in the spring .
What Makes a Machine a Machine ?
Engineering and design is front and center in fifth grade STEAM . In a fall wheels and axles lab , the boys began to gain understanding of the ways that simple machines function . On this day , students wrestled with a design challenge as part of their unit study of simple machines : Design a vehicle that uses wheels and axles to minimize the amount of force needed to move a 500g weight two meters .
Given a list of common materials to use , the boys worked in pairs to draw initial plans and build their vehicles . They collaborated on solving problems that arose along the way , and they presented and demonstrated their final designs . This work evolves into more complex challenges during the year as the boys build compound machines and program robots .
Winter 2023 • 49