Atchison Aviators and Atchison Wings On Tour

It's been a very busy third quarter for our Atchison Aviators, Atchison Wings and Atchison Music Creation.  We have performed at the University of Kansas, University of Missouri-Kansas City, and Atchison High School.

It is our hope that our young musicians will be inspired to even greater success at USD 409 through their experience in performing and visiting to attend higher education institutions in NE Kansas and Missouri. We have included several pictures below for you to enjoy our young musicians in performance.  Keep soaring, Aviators, Music Creation and Wings!!!

University of Kansas versus Kansas State University

(Photo by Ashley Stout)

KU Alma Mater @ University of Kansas versus Kansas State University

(Photo by Katie Martin)

University of Kansas versus Kansas State University

(Photo by Ashley Stout)

University of Kansas versus Kansas State University

(Photo by Katie Martin)

Atchison Aviators, Atchison Wings and AHS Adrenaline 

(Photo by Katie Martin)

Atchison Aviators, Atchison Wings and AHS Adrenaline 

(Photo by Katie Martin)

UMKC vs California State-Bakersfield at Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri

(Photo by UMKC Athletic Staff)

UMKC vs California State-Bakersfield at Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Missouri

(Photo by UMKC Athletic Staff)

Music Creation at AHS Winter Concert

We had so much fun last night participating in the Atchison High School Winter Concert.  Music Creation played several songs for the audience and enjoyed the amazing opportunity to hear the Atchison High School Percussion Ensemble and Concert Band perform.

Thank you so much, Ms. Whyte, AHS Band director, and Mr. Rieger , AHS Band assistant director, for the invitation to participate.  It was a wonderful experience!

Please enjoy the below photo of our performance at the Atchison Middle School auditorium.  The photo was taken by Atchison Aviators and Music Creation parents, Mrs. Katie Martin and Mrs. Kelley.  Thank you!

Atchison Music Creation at AHS Winter Concert

Music Creation at Benedictine College

Wow, just wow!  We were so impressed with our Music Creation consort's performance of the National Anthem on Saturday at the Benedictine College versus Peru State College football game this past weekend.

Music Creation is a Soprano and Tenor Recorder Consort that plays advanced repertoire. It is comprised of Fourth and Fifth grade students who are also members of the Atchison Aviators, our honors chorus.

We had perfect weather and a great crowd at the game.  It was so much fun!  And, yes, the BC Ravens won the game versus Peru State College with a score of 34 to 25.  Go Ravens!

All photos were taken by Mrs. Katie Martin.

Atchison Music Creation USD 409 BOE Performance

Several of our Atchison Music Creation Recorder Consort musicians performed for the USD 409 Board of Education on October 3rd in Atchison.  

The children performed, "We Shall Overcome," "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas," "The Star-Spangled Banner," "God Bless America," "Greensleeves, " and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman."  It was our first community performance of the year.  

The Atchison Music Creation group is comprised of about twenty-four students from Fourth and Fifth grade at Atchison Elementary School.  They play on Soprano and Tenor recorders...

We were so proud of our students and their commitment to musical excellence.  The future is indeed very bright for these young musicians.  They have several upcoming community performances already scheduled including Benedictine College and the Atchison Kiwanis Halloween Parade.

Thank you, USD 409 BOE members for your invitation.  Please enjoy the below photos taken by Mrs. Martin of our performance.

Music Creation Recorder Consort News!!!

Just a quick "heads up" that the Atchison Music Creation Recorder Consort has been invited to perform the National Anthem prior to the University of Oklahoma Sooners versus the University of Kansas Jayhawks men's baseball game on Saturday, April 30th at 2 p.m. This game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and is a significant honor for our instrumental program.

While wearing their Atchison Aviators performance attire, Our students will perform the National Anthem by memory during this performance.  It will be quite the challenge for our Fourth and Fifth Grade students but they are up to the challenge.

Go Atchison Music Creation!

University of Kansas Performance

The Atchison Aviators, our fourth and fifth grade honors chorus, presented the National Anthem and University of Kansas Alma Mater on February 25th at the KU Women's Basketball game versus the Texas Tech Red Raiders.  We had an absolute blast performing and enjoying the game.  We had over 300 students, family members and patrons join us for this unique event.  Below are some photos that were taken by our Aviator family members :)

Please join us in congratulating our Atchison Aviators on an incredibly well-received performance. They represented themselves, their families, our community and school at the highest level.  The future is very bright indeed for these amazing young musicians!

Atchison High School Performance

On February 5th, the Atchison Aviators and Atchison Wings performed with the AMS and AHS Show Choirs at the AHS Women's basketball game.  Over 200 students performed the National Anthem to honor our country on this special evening.

Our Atchison Aviators and Atchison Wings represented our school at a very high level and "soared" to the challenges of the event.

Please congratulate your Atchison Aviator and/or Wing for a performance well done!  Now it's time to get ready for the Atchison Aviators performance at the University of Kansas on February 27th!!!

Go Aviators, Soar Wings!

Thank you to everyone who sent us photos :)

Missouri Western State University Performance

We had an amazing performance and experience recently at the Missouri Western State University Lady Griffons game versus Fort Hays State University.  Once we arrived, our students had the opportunity to meet with Ms. Peggy Payne, Assistant Director of Admissions and Mr. Scott Groner, Assistant Football Coach.  They shared with our students about the process of being admitted to college and how our students could begin to prepare themselves for success in the future.

Mr. Brett Esely, Associate Director of Athletics, greeted us at the MWSU Fieldhouse.  With his assistance, we began to prepare ourselves for our performance.  Afterwards, our 4th and 5th grade Honors performance ensemble of over 80 students, presented the National Anthem to over 3,200 patrons. Our students were well-received and encouraged to visit MWSU again in the future.  Oh, by the way, the Lady Griffons won the game on an amazing comeback after being down 18 points at halftime. Our Atchison Aviators were definitely trying their best to cheer on the Lady Griffons.

A special "Thank You" goes to Missouri Western State University staff for their invitation and hospitality and to Mrs. Affield, Mrs. Katie Martin and Mrs. Tschauder for the wonderful photos below.

Keep soaring, Atchison Aviators!

Music Creation Performance at First Presbyterian Church

The Atchison Elementary School Recorder Consort, Music Creation, performed three instrumental pieces during the morning service at First Presbyterian Church.  We were so pleased with the overall sound of the consort and their behavior in the congregation.  They were excellent representatives of our school.

Way to go, Music Creation!!!

Photos by Katie Martin

Kiwanis Halloween Parade

Music Creation, our Advanced Recorder Consort, was invited to participate during the 17th annual Kiwanis Halloween Parade in Atchison, Kansas.  It was our first year to participate.  We had seventeen of our Music Creation students participate during the parade. Our students represented Atchison Elementary School very well.  We handed our candy to the children that were in attendance and just had a blast building community within our group.  It was so much fun :)

We can't wait until next year!!!

Photo by Mary Liggett

This Is Halloween

During our AES morning assembly on October 30th, Mrs. Lorenz's Second Grade, Mrs. Neidinger's Kindergarten, and Ms. Siskey's Third Grade class performed the song, "This Is Halloween!"
Our students did a wonderful job...

Photo by Isaac Piper

Art and Music Fourth Grade Field Trip

Mrs. Zwahl's and Mr. Weaver's Fourth Grade Art and Music classrooms recently visited the African Art exhibit at Benedictine College.  It was a wonderful exhibit with a variety of examples of native African art, including pieces from Kenya, Nigeria, and Ghana.  The students at Benedictine College were wonderful hosts and provided our students an amazing opportunity to expand their understanding of the world around them through the study of the fine arts.  Thank you, Benedictine College!

Below are some photos taken by Mrs. Zwahl of our students visiting the exhibit.  We have also included a link below to a wonderful example of Hi-Life music from Ghana, West Africa.

USD 409 Board of Education Music Creation Performance

 On October 5th, we had seventeen students from our advanced recorder consort, Music Creation, perform the USD 409 Board of Education and local patrons.  We were so proud of our student's commitment to perform and the excellence they demonstrated during their performance.

It should be an absolutely amazing year for our Music Creation.  Seriously, these kids are just AMAZING :)  As the sign says, "Our students are number one!"

I am pleased to share a few performance photographs taken by Mrs. Snowden, a proud parent of one of our consort members.