TA Life

Romeo, Romeo! TA LIFE PERFORMING ARTS Written by: Sara-Margaret Cates

Mrs. Cates has been elected to serve the Alabama Conference of Theatre as the District 2 Chair for the Second-

The award-winning Tuscaloosa Academy Performing Arts ary Division. department is ready for another exciting school year!

COVID-19 has impacted all of us in so many ways, and the performing arts are no exception. With the joyous return to in-person learning, we were still learning what would be the safest practices for going forward with public performances of our theatre and music programs.

The arts, however, have always been adaptable. Theatre has survived plagues, persecutions, and natural disasters through out it’s thousands of years, so it comes as no surprise that we fully embraced the saying, “the show must go on!” The TA Players were thrilled to adapt and grow through the pandemic, taking our fall play, William Shakespeare’s classic, Romeo & Juliet from our traditional location (the historic Bama Theatre) to a much more historically accurate outdoor performance on the TA Football field.

With direction by Mrs. Sara-Margaret Cates and fight choreography by Ms. Mary Ruth Pruitt, our upper school cast brought this beautifully tragic story to life for our audiences. Additionally, our middle school students presented Romeo & Juliet’s Restaurant Wars - a spoof on the classic that brought some much-needed levity to the evening.

In a time when we were not sure what would happen, the TA Players rose to many complicated challenges. Three students participated in a vertical version of our regular theatre competition in the fall. Our middle school class produced it’s own one-act play in the spring, and our TA Players’ spring play, The Complete History of Theatre (Abridged) was a raucous success.

John Steinbeck once said “the theatre is the only institution in the world which has been dying for four thousand years and has not succumbed. It requires tough and devoted people to keep it alive.” The students and volunteers of the Tuscaloosa Academy Theatre department have proven their toughness and devotion in this past year, and we are thrilled as we look forward to the 2021-2022 season.

We will return to the historic Bama Theatre for our fall play, Alice in Wonderland on October 9 and 10. Additionally, our upper school students return to in-person theatre competitions in the fall and spring. Theatre classes (yes! Multiple classes!) have record numbers of students, and the ever-popular Pancake Breakfast made a comeback this year in September. Tickets for all of our departmental events can be purchased at taplayers.booktix.com

We all know this past year was a doozy. Teachers had to be flexible with how they taught, both digitally and in person. Students had to balance their social lives, studies and COVID guidelines, all while still trying to have a “normal” school year. I wanted art to be an outlet for them to express how they felt, to learn about artists and to develop their art skills. During the school year, students participated in art classes both digitally and in person. I hosted my first art show at TA, a district wide art show in the TA gym, and went to the AISA art show in Montgomery, AL. Ms. Pruitt’s AP art students participated and moved on to the AISA State show. Students in lower school learned about famous artists, we had the “What should Ms. Hocutt be for Halloween?” costume contest, paper mâché projects and more! In middle school, students learned and reviewed the 7 elements of art and how to implement them into their projects. These are important building blocks if they want to continue to study art in high school and beyond. I have enjoyed teaching art at TA for the last 4 years. I believe art is such an important subject because it is a window to the past and a projection of the future. I feel like students need to understand that they are all artists in their own way. If that is through computer coding, fashion design, architecture, culinary arts or theatre. I am here to help guide them to understand how they can use their creativity in their own lives and in their own way.

Art! This year, we will participate in three art shows : the school-wide TA art show, the AISA district show and the AISA State show. I look forward to having many students work on display at the shows in April. I am looking forward to an amazing year in the TA art department! Written by: Jessie Hocutt

TA LIFE TECHNOLOGY

Lower School

Last year was a special year where some of our extra curricular activities were sacrificed in order to keep everyone healthy and safe so there was an alteration to the usual after school Wonder League Robotics team. An abbreviated version of what the team would do during their after school meetings was incorporated into the 4th Grade’s Computer Science curriculum during the first quarter of the school year. This coming year, we will be bringing it back in full force and look forward to seeing what they can do and how far they will go with it. Our newly renovated room brought about some changes in our technology curriculum. More STEM activities were incorporated and the computer science curriculum was broadened to include more activities that were offline and off the devices.

Middle School

Covid might have limited many activities, but Middle School still managed to enjoy several activities in and out of the classroom. The new Edison robots were a crowd favorite; especially when programmed to play soccer and flashlight tag! John William Duffy and Michael Constantine (8th graders) participated in

To Infinity and Beyond! University of Alabama’s inaugural STEM Showcase and placed first in the engineering category with their Comfort bot! Tuscaloosa Academy had three teams that competed in CoderZ’s virtual robotics competition. Each team placed in the top 5 in the Southeast division. 5th and 6th grade students created a variety of projects in Digital Arts class, some unplugged and some even coincided with art projects completed for Ms. Hocutt! 7th and 8th grade students enjoyed using Microsoft Suite products to create wanted posters for some popular items during Covid. They also participated in virtual tours of Amazon warehouses and programmed Hercules, Amazon’s robot, and help fulfil some of Amazon’s orders in a virtual simulation game! We are looking forward to an exciting 2021-2022 year with new LEGO Spike robots and our first ever team in the First LEGO League competition!

Upper School

A different daily schedule and Covid restrictions did not slow down the successes of students in Upper School computer science and technology classes! Students were busy in class and

Dawn Jolly, MS Technology Instructor, explaining how to build a robot to a middle school student.

Above: Lower School students working with robots, coding, and 3D printing. Below: Middle School Design class with Mrs. Henderson entered the 2021 Tallest Paper Tower Challenge. Pictured here are Kennedy Duffy, Sarah Davis Roe, Brilyn Hollyhand, Sarah Miller, Jack Smith, Sara Borrmann, Kaleb Colgrove, Maggie Warren, Maggie Rose Cobern, Anna Claire Proctor, and Ella Money.

Rene McNeal utilizing her faculty iPad, New Line Panel, and Zoom to instruct a student virtually.

were offered additional opportunities to enter competitions and contests.

Students in the Computer Science I classes used their skills to enter uplifting messages on digital Valentine’s Day cards for children’s hospitals throughout the nation. Students sent over 1,000 cards that would be printed and distributed to children. They also participated in digital research projects on a variety of topics. Students could choose from categories such as science, history, art, literature, and the social sciences. Within each category, students chose an ongoing research project that was asking for help from the public. Some students watched webcams and identified animal species. Some students studied space and identified variable stars. Other students helped translate immigration records from German to English. They learned the importance of digital volunteers and got a glimpse into research projects from around the world. The CyberKnights cybersecurity team did not get to participate in the ever-popular CTF (Capture the Flag) competitions. However, they did participate in the online cybersecurity training offered by Cyberstart America. There were over 200 cyber questions and scenarios of varying difficulty. The TA CyberKnights earned a Bronze badge for their knowledge.

The AP Computer Science Principles students enjoyed “zooming” with TA alumni who shared their experiences at TA and how they now use technology in their careers. Christian Magadan, Class of 2009; works as a virtual effects artist at Crank Yankers. He showed students some of the software used in production and explained how important collaboration has become in the movie industry. Allison Boyd, Class of 2008; shared her work as an actress and writer in Los Angeles. Our zoom with Allison also included Zac Garred, the Australian actor (currently in Occupation Rainfall). Zac showed students some behind the scenes views and special effects used in the movies.

In December, students in all grades were invited to participate in “CS in Education” week. Members of computer science classes and the CS Honor Society prepared coding pathways that were placed outside of the Preschool and LS classrooms. Students were invited to follow the codes to move from the starting point to the ending point. Other students participated in online “Hour of Code” activities.

Congratulations to the TA_GoldenKnights US programming

team for placing 4th in the Team Programming Challenge Alabama 50 sponsored by the AL Consortium for Technology in Education. The challenge consisted of 20 computer programming problems that were worth varying numbers of points. Students worked as a team to write and submit programs to earn points. Twenty two teams of various grade levels competed. TA was represented by Dawson Bielstein, Lane Marshall, JB McAllister, and Haven Thompson.

A new contest last year was the Be Entrepreneurial Idea Competition sponsored by UAH. Teams of students from across the state could submit ideas and business plans for review by professionals and investors. Two teams from TA entered and both teams advanced to the final round! Teams presented their plans virtually via Zoom. Sara Chase McMullen and Brennan Young showcased their idea of an innovative, technology-based way of helping to keep kids safe while playing outside. Their team won 3rd place and they received cash and other prizes. Haven Thompson placed 5th with an app idea to improve relationships between renters and landlords. All of the students gained valuable experience in communication and interview skills.

All of the technology department is excited to see our program grow and adapt to new challenges and new innovations that will ultimately make our students more prepared for a future built around technology.

Tammi Schiering using her New Line Board during a computer science class.

Above: Christian Magaden on Zoom. Below: Allison Boyd and Zac Garred discussing the use of technology in the entertainment industry,. Mrs. Henderson and Mrs. Scheiring sporting their Eports Team Shirts.

Sara Chase McMullen and Brennan Young with their award.