ELECTIVE CHOICES AT GEORGE WASHINGTON MS
Concert Band – (Full year course) Our Music Department offers fun and exciting instrumental classes, as well as after
school ensembles for your child. There is the 6th Grade Symphonic Band as well as the 7th and 8th Grade Band. Both bands
meet daily and perform Winter as well as Spring Concerts. Weekly lessons are also included when students participate in
Band. If you are interested in joining band but have never played an instrument, our Band Director is willing to work with
any student who is interested in learning an instrument. Guitar is not offered.
Chorus – (Full year course) Chorus meets every day as a graded class period. Each grade has their own separate chorus,
though grades do combine for some pieces. Throughout the year, each chorus rehearses a variety of music in preparation
for a concert in the Winter, a concert in the Spring, and a competition in the Spring. In addition, students learn how to read
music and apply various vocal and breathing techniques that will enable them to become better singers. All choruses
participate in the “Music in the Parks” Festival, which consists of a competition against other middle schools and is
accompanied by a trip to the nearby amusement park.
Cycles
Each Marking Period the student will participate in one of the following classes until they
“cycle” through them all.
Art – Strives to bring out the natural artistic ability in all of our students. The Art Cycle serves as an outlet for students to
express themselves creatively. We use a variety of materials and incorporate art history in our projects and this all helps
beautify the school with our artwork. All of our student’s artwork is displayed, and the Windows Art and Cycles Art are
often displayed together.
Computer Applications – Our goal is to prepare students for the real world by teaching them computer skills necessary
for high school and college along with an awareness of employment opportunities for career planning. Students learn to
touch type, with emphasis on correct finger position, posture, and acceptable levels of accuracy and speed. After building
fundamental skills (margins, font effects, paragraphing, symbols, borders & clip art), students prepare homework
assignments using Microsoft Word. Students will also become skilled in using the Internet safely for sending e-mail and
researching information. Additional programs including Excel, Power Point and Publisher are also explored.
Transportation Technology – The Technology portion of the cycles program is designed to expose the student to
hands-on projects that incorporate science, math, history, social studies, engineering and creative thinking. This all takes
place in an environment that encourages the student to develop creative solutions to carefully engineered problems.
Students are introduced to a guided problem solving philosophy that assists them in using knowledge learned from other
disciplines in order to apply that knowledge to the presented problem. Creative thinking and problem solving are
encouraged while the students build solutions in a hands-on approach to the everyday world around them.
World Language (Spanish) - The possibilities of using world language skills in a career can not be ignored. Therefore
our mission is to enable students to acquire language skills essential for language proficiency and to provide a quality
language instruction that builds student’s confidence and instills a lifelong enthusiasm for understanding diverse cultures.
The Spanish program follows a thematic approach and focuses primarily on oral communication. All skills follow a particular
theme where the student uses prior knowledge to complete tasks and experience with the language.