Schools of the Week: Sunset Elementary and Grassland Middle

Track and field athletes from eight WCS high schools competed at the district tournament April 7.

Both the Brentwood High boys and girls teams emerged as the winners. Students from Brentwood, Centennial, Fairview, Franklin, Independence, Nolensville, Page, Ravenwood and Summit high schools all participated in the meet.

Sunset Middle students brought creepy, kooky fun to the stage April 10–13 with their production of The Addams Family Musical: Young@Part. 

This hilarious musical tells the story of the Addams family as they host a dinner party for Wednesday's "normal" boyfriend and his parents. Unexpected guests and big misunderstandings made for hilarious moments as the Addams family attempted to be "normal" for one night.

"The Addams Family was our most successful show at SMS yet," said Sunset Middle theater teacher Hallie Long. "We sold out almost every single performance. I am so proud of my students for the portrayal of the characters on stage and how hard they worked to memorize lines and choreography. I also take great pride in the fact that all the technical elements of our show including lighting, sound, makeup, props and set are controlled and run by students. I cannot wait for next year."

Brentwood Middle's theater department transformed its stage into East High for its spring performance, High School Musical Jr.

The show was originally planned to open in the spring of 2020 but was canceled a few weeks before opening night. On April 10-12, the Brentwood community finally had the opportunity to see the East High Wildcats onstage.

"This is such a special moment for us," BMS theater director Meredith Daniel said. "To be able to finally perform this show five years later was a magical experience. This cast and crew are so full of life, and they're all such great friends. To me, I'm most proud of the community they've formed."

Students at Hillsboro School are perfecting the recorder in a unique way.

In music teacher Erin Jones’ class, fourth and fifth graders are learning to read music by playing recorder karate. Students master songs that are associated with a different color and then test their skills to earn a small belt that hangs from their recorder.

“I have three belts and just earned my orange belt for memorizing Merrily We Roll Along," said fourth grade student Hagan Kobus. “I like playing the recorder because it’s fun. It sounds good and feels good when you get the notes just right.”

The sea was alive at Franklin High's sensory mindful production of The Spongebob Musical on March 31. 

This special performance was the first of its kind at FHS. Unlike the other shows, this particular production eliminated fog machines and flashing lights, toned down the special effect sound cues and cut the number of available tickets from 500 to 300 to allow for more space for audience members.

"Just like Old Man Jenkins says in the musical 'Bikini Bottom is for all,' we believe that theater should be for all," said FHS Theater Director Haley Miller. "That's why we wanted to create a performance that truly encompassed that belief."

Franklin High Transition 2 students were offered up to six free tickets each so their families could also attend. Miller says more than 200 people were at the special showing, which she hopes will become a fixture at FHS.

"It was such a great night," said Miller. "I'm so proud of our students, and I hope we continue to grow this opportunity in the future."