Christopher DeVargas

Ella Maria Figiera, a theater major at Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, poses for a portrait at Craig Ranch Regional Park Thursday, Aug. 5,2020.

By Sara MacNeil (contact)

Sunday, Aug. 9, 2020 | 2 a.m.

On a normal morning before school, members of the Foothill High School band can be found on the football field going over their Friday night halftime routine.

Theres much coordination among the bands more than 300 members as movements are made in unison and in rhythm with whats being played say the schools fight song.

But what happens when the band cant get together because of the pandemic? And how do theater students put on a production without a stage or physical education students lift weights when the gym is closed?

Teachers leading elective classes in dance, music, theater, physical education and more are finding creative solutions in preparation for the Clark County School District resuming classes remotely later this month.

The learning, they stress, wont stop. It will just look different. And that could be beneficial in the long run, educators say.

Travis Pardee, the director of bands and chair of the Performing Arts Department at Foothill, said students will have the opportunity to gain more career-oriented experience in producing music this semester.

Ensemble music can be produced through computer software that allows the user to sync multiple tracks from each student.

Trumpet players record for movies and commercials all the time and never leave the house, Pardee said.

Through software called Smart Music, students can record themselves playing and get immediate feedback on which notes and rhythms they played correctly or incorrectly, as well as a performance score.

Teachers can import, edit and create music notation for student assignments and track students practice time.

Also, many professional orchestras are offering free virtual concerts and master lessons that students will be able to take advantage of, Pardee said.

As for the schools concerts, those will have to be put on hold.

Were actually kind of excited to do some of those type of things we havent been able to do previously because of the number of competitions and performances weve been doing, Pardee said.

John Isola, who teaches weight training at Legacy High School, said virtual classes wont involve lifting weights because students dont have equipment at home. Instead, hell focus on isometric strength training and exercises such as pushups, sit-ups and jumping jacks, he said.

Students will have to do 30 minutes of exercise a day and log their physical activity. They can receive credit for going for a walk, a hike or a bike ride.

Isola, like many teachers, will prerecord some lessons so students can log on at their leisure and complete requirements. Some days, theyll meet as a group through Google Hangouts.

Teachers will use software called Infinite Campus to track student attendance and progress. Isola compared it to a computer version of old school grade books.

The electronic grade book has a portal where students and parents can access assignments, grades, attendance and notices.

Parents are going to have to be a little more involved in their childs education than they have been in the past, said Jerry Streets, who taught high school band for years before he started teaching government at Sierra Vista High School.

Streets said specialized/elective classes will need to be uploaded into Canvas, another learning management system that will be used for teacher, parent and student communications and instruction.

Teachers will record daily real-time lessons in the program.

Las Vegas Academy of the Arts Principal Scott Walker said students who get familiar with Canvas will be better prepared for college, because many universities use the system.

Daily instruction will require being inventive in the teaching techniques, Walker said.

For example, dance teachers will record lessons using multiple cameras at different angles so students can follow along at home. Dance moves will be limited to a 10-by-10 area, keeping in mind students might not have a lot of practice space, he said.

Theyre not going to be able to do any flying leaps across the whole world, he said.

Abigail Figiera, whose daughter Ella Maria Figiera is a sophomore at LVA, said theres obviously just an aspect of performance that you cant experience online.

But in the COVID-19 era, Figiera and other families are coming to the realization that the performing arts like most things in our lives temporarily look and feel different.

Im hoping well be able to go back to performing in front of a live audience soon, Ella Maria Figiera said.

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The band plays on: Arts, music education in Las Vegas marches on through pandemic - Las Vegas Sun