Once again, it is that time of year when the students of Wheeling Park High School are preparing for the 26th anniversary performances of the Festival of Sound holiday concert extravaganza.
This much-anticipated event returns on Friday, December 17, at 7:00 p.m. with additional performances on Saturday, December 18, at 7:00 p.m. and, finally, on Sunday, December 19, at 2:00 p.m., in the J.B. Chambers Performing Arts Center on the campus of Wheeling Park High School. Tickets for the performances are now being sold online at http://wphswv.booktix.com/ and also in the main offices of Wheeling Park High School and Ohio County Schools (at 2203 National Rd. in Elm Grove). Online ticket sales will incur a small convenience fee. In-person ticket sales will occur from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on school days through December 17 while online ticket sales will continue (if available) up until each show time. Tickets are $12.00 for adults and $7.00 for students. Seating for each show is limited and is general admission. The availability of tickets for purchase at the door cannot be guaranteed. Doors will open one hour before each show. There is handicap-accessible seating available as well as handicap-accessible parking with dropoff in front of the center. Parking for the general public may overflow to the school’s rear parking lot where patrons will have the option to follow signs as they walk through the building or ride a shuttle bus around to the front entrance of the center.
The Festival of Sound (FoS) is the premier holiday show throughout the region and boasts a variety of the very best music coming from television, Broadway, jazz, sacred, and secular traditions. There will be something for every member of the community to enjoy! The Music Department of Wheeling Park High School is preparing “It’s the Holiday Season,” the 26th Anniversary Festival of Sound, for the public that has supported its performances over the years, and the event continues to be as popular as ever! What is the reason for decades of success? It is simple: the students!
These very talented teens represent a collaborative nature of learning that remains a constant at Wheeling Park High School. Many of the FoS performers are also active in competitive sports, theater, speech and debate, student government, clubs, career/technical studies, and a wide variety of their own music ensembles outside the school day. This environment at Wheeling Park isn’t just in the Music Department but incorporates teachers, coaches, office staff, and administration throughout the school! It is an approach that is even older than the Festival of Sound, itself.
“We have something special here that gets its start in the earlier grades. Our middle schools are the grounds for developing student leadership and collaboration. At the high school level, it is all about supporting the students in that endeavor,” said David Alfred, Director of Bands. He adds, “We also cannot overlook the importance of a good music education particularly in the primary grades. That is what ensures success years down the road. In this regard, FoS really is a celebration of music education throughout all of Ohio County Schools.” According to Choir Director Joyce Jingle, "Festival of Sound is going to be a new experience for half of our students who have not had a typical school year. Last year was the first time in more than two and a half decades that Festival of Sound did not happen. We are eager to get back to our tradition and make some great holiday music together."
Choir Director Christie Curley thinks that some of the fun of FoS will be just watching students transition from one ensemble to another as the performance progresses. “We literally have students in 4 or 5 different performance groups. That’s a tremendous level of commitment and musicianship!” Ensembles performing during the 2021 Festival of Sound include the Concert Band, Jazz Ensemble, Symphonic Winds, and Steel Drum Band. The Red and Blue Orchestras along with the Concert Choir, Young Patriots, Voices of Freedom, Men’s and Women’s Ensembles will also appear during the show. Highlights of the performance are bound to include those selections that incorporate all 350 musicians in what is called the Patriot Ensemble. It is a sight to behold and a joy to hear! In yet another collaborative endeavor, the award-winning WPHS Speech Team members will serve as Masters of Ceremony! The collaborative nature of these music students is the focus of the Festival of Sound shows.
Orchestra Director Ben Podolski states, “We teach so much more than music and the students teach us as well,” and it shows since FoS seems to get better each year if that’s even possible! It is important to note that the event does not come off without community and administrative support, and a host of parent and alumni volunteers handing out programs, supervising backstage, coordinating ticket sales, and ushering. “There is just no way that we could do a professional-level concert like this without all of the efforts our administrators and volunteers are putting in behind the scenes,” explains Curley. The show is housed in the J.B. Chambers Performing Arts Center, a state-of-the-art, 1,200-seat, performance theater on the campus of Wheeling Park High School that is just now celebrating the end of its 10th year! The venue features dress-circle seating, a mezzanine and two galleries. An elevator is available as well as restroom facilities on every floor. Music Directors of the Festival of Sound are David Alfred, Seth Bell, Christie Curley, Joyce Jingle, and Benjamin Podolski. For more information call Wheeling Park High School at 304 243 0400.
Photo: Wheeling Park High School students are ready for
Festival of Sound!!! Shown in front from left are Patriot music
students Tiara Simon, Paige Evans and Grace Moore. Shown in back
from left are Ethan Bartsch, Brooke Sikole, Jamie Noble and Emma McCardle.
The Wheeling Park High School Choir Cookie Walk will be held tomorrow!!!
Check out the details!!!
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Wheeling Park High School and C.A. House Music will present special school performances of Festival of Sound on Dec. 17!!! Check out the details of this exciting event!!!
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Congratulations to Wheeling Park High School junior Alexis DiGiandomenico
on her nomination to the Congress for Future Medical Leaders!!! She will
be featured tonight on WTRF7!!!
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Tiara Simon and Rosalyn Hill accepting the WVSSAC Academic Achievement Award for High School Band as well as Rosalyn Hill accepting the WVSSAC Academic Achievement Individual Award for High School Band. Congratulations to the band, the directors, Ms. Hill! Outstanding Work!
The Ohio County Board of Education will hold a work session at 6 p.m. today at the Board Office at 2203 National Road. It can be seen live on the official Youtube channel, OCS Video, at the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgxWJbNGaSY6U7ljT8VAQVA .
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Congratulations to Wheeling Middle’s Kay Smith, Triadelphia’s Nya Harter, Warwood’s Korrine Farley and Bridge Street’s Ava Rine!! They are winners in the Main Street Bank Christmas Billboard Design Contest, each earning a $50 gift card and $500 for their schools' art departments!
Congratulations to Warwood School eighth grader Owen Dobrzynski Hines who was awarded a $10,000 Educational Savings Fund in West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s “Do it for Baby Dog” vaccination sweepstakes!!! Owen is shown with Warwood Principal Joey Subasic, at left, and Assistant Principal Jim Rowing!!!
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COVID-19 Vaccinations will be available at several new locations!!!
Check out the details!!!
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The Wheeling Park High School boys and girls soccer teams recently collected on an impressive contribution for an important local organization.
The Patriot student athletes collected many food and personal hygiene items to be distributed to those in need via Blessing Boxes in Ohio County. Wheeling Park boys and girls soccer players delivered the items to the Ohio County Board of Education Office where they were accepted by the Ohio County Family Resource Network on Nov. 12.
Ohio County Family Resource Network Executive Director Claudia Raymer thanked the students athletes for their efforts. She said the work of those students will ensure a Happy Thanksgiving for local families.
“I got a big smile when I saw that a lot of the food donations are Thanksgiving related,” Raymer said. “I was able to put in turkey gravy, canned vegetables, stuffing and other Thanksgiving items that will mean so much to the people accessing the box.”
Photo 1: Pictured from left are Wheeling Park soccer players Taylor McFarland, Alex Canestraro, Josephine Kulpa, Maya Taggart and Ohio County Family Resource Network Executive Director Claudia Raymer.
Photos 2 and 3: Pictured are before and after photos of a local blessing box following donations collected by Wheeling Park High School boys and girls soccer teams.
Former Ohio County Board of Education member and longtime Wheeling Middle School Principal, Tom Innocenti II, was credited today for inspiring an expansion of the Ohio County Airport Museum.
Ohio County Commissioners on Friday announced an expansion of the airport museum to include an area dedicated to the Veterans of the Global War on Terror. Innocenti, a U.S. Army sergeant and sniper in the Korean War, had encouraged his son and others to collect memorabilia from the Gulf War era, and that memorabilia will be included in the airport museum expansion.
Innocenti’s grandson, Joey Subasic, is the principal at Warwood School. He is shown at today’s ceremony with the plaque now on display at the airport. Also shown is Innocenti’s photo that hangs at Wheeling Middle School. Innocenti now resides in Clarksburg, W.Va.
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Patriot students in the High School 101 class had an inspirational visitor today!!! Former WVU Mountaineer football standout Wes Lyons, who also played for the Pittsburgh Steelers, spoke to students as part of his Pursuit Program. The mission of The Pursuit program is designed to enhance the student's educational experience, while preparing them for academic success by developing their decision-making skills, improving their writing and communication skills and keeping them engaged and invested in learning.
The Pursuit program exposes students to life skills (managing finances, networking, goal setting, decision-making and more…), while giving students the opportunity to change the negative cycle that may be impeding their success, regardless of their background or current situation.
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Congratulations to Wheeling Park seniors Kayla Clatterbuck and Makel Galloway who were named Wheeling Elks Students of the Month for November!!!
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Thank you to local veterans and members of American Legion Post 1 Wheeling for visiting Middle Creek Elementary School today in recognition of Veterans Day!!! The veterans demonstrated United States flag presentation protocol and performed “Taps.” Road Runner students read letters of appreciation to veterans.
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Ohio County Schools Superintendent Kimberly Miller is reaching out to the school system’s students to learn of their thoughts and concerns.
Dr. Miller visited Wheeling Middle School Tuesday to speak with students as part of her annual “Superintendent Forums.” Miller, who is accompanied by either Ohio County Schools Assistant Superintendent Rick Jones or Innovation Coordinator JoJo Shay at each forum, sits with students to discuss any number of topics of discussion. She has also visited Wheeling Park High School, Warwood School, Bridge Street Middle School and Triadelphia Middle School.
During the forums, Miller encourages the students to discuss what they enjoy and appreciate about their school, but she also asks them to talk about what could be improved. Topics of conversion include academics, technology, sports and meals, among other things.
“Our goal is to provide the best education possible for our students,” Miller said. “I don’t believe that is possible without speaking to them. I want to know what is working and what can be improved. No one knows better than our students, and they’ve been quite willing to share their thoughts. Our discussions have been so beneficial, and I enjoy talking to them.”
New Partnerships were formed at Monday’s regular meeting of the Ohio County Board of Education. Ohio County Schools Superintendent Kim Miller signed Partners in Education agreement certificates with the Ohio County Virtual Lions Club and the organization’s new partners Middle Creek Elementary School, Elm Grove Elementary School and Bridge Street Middle School.
Pictured from left are Ohio County Virtual Lion’s Club President Matt Rafa, Lions Director of School Partnerships Julie Schultz, who is also a teacher at Bridge Street, Middle Creek Principal Katrina Lewis, Elm Grove Principal Rick Dunlevy and Bridge Street Principal Jessica Broski-Birch.
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The Park Players of Wheeling Park High School will open this year's Fall Play on Nov. 12!!! Check out the details!!!
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Covid-19 vaccines for children five years of age and older are now available!!! Check out the details.
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The West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration held its DUI Simulator Program today at Wheeling Park High School… Check out what Patriot students and teachers thought of the program tonight on WTRF7!!!
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The Ohio County Family Resource Network will be hosting the Mountaineer Food Bank's Mobile Food Pantry from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct. 28 in parking lots C and D of the Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack.
Mountaineer Food Bank's policies and procedures will be in place with enhanced COVID protocols:
- Open to WV residents only. (Must provide a WV address. No ID will be requested)
- ONE box per vehicle. If there are two adults from two different households in your vehicle, you will be asked to drive through twice.
- Food boxes will only be placed in trunks, not inside vehicles. If you do not have space for boxes in your trunk, you will be asked to pull to the side to clear space.
- No income verification is required.
Please share with family, friends and anyone who may benefit from attending this event.
**NOTE: The next mobile pantry after this will be December 9th**
We will also have Wheeling Health Right on site offering COVID 19 vaccinations, including boosters
