Five hundred fifty-five (555) Detroit Public Schools students from schools across the city had the extraordinary experience to perform onstage at the illustrious Fox Theatre during the 44^th Annual Evening of Fine Arts on Thursday, May 16.

The evening commenced with Lobby Performances and an Art Gallery showcase at 6 p.m. followed by performances beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Theatre.

This spectacular event, with the theme “Moving Forward,” featured instrumental, vocal, visual and performing arts.

Individual and group performances included a violin solo, jazz ensembles, mariachi performances, symphonic bands, men’s glee clubs, a wind symphony, a percussion ensemble, a string quintet, concert choirs and much more!

Among the program features:

• The Munger Elementary School Band performed “Star Wars”
• The Spain K-8 Orchestra performed “Fiddles on Fire”
• The Duke Ellington K-8 Jazz Combo performed “Blue Bossa”
• Cass Technical Harp and Vocal performed “Tomorrow Shall be my Dancing Day”
• Detroit School of Arts Wind Symphony performed “Robinson’s Grand Entrée March”
• Renaissance High School Chamber Strings performed themes from Mozart’s Symphony no. 40
• John R. King K-8 Angelic Chorale performed “Take Five”
• A Combined Chorus (Cass Technical High School, Detroit School of Arts and Renaissance High School Chamber Strings, along with the All City Jazz Ensemble Winds) performed “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”

And many more outstanding performances!

Thursday, May 9, 2013 marked the first ever Mathematics Bee for Detroit Public School students held at Martin Luther King, Jr. High School.  The Mathematics Bee was organized to instill and encourage a love for mathematics to aspiring mathematics scholars.  This event allowed for two divisions of competing students: 1^st - 2^nd graders and 3^rd - 5^th graders.  There would be three winners from each division and along with bragging rights; the first place winner received a trophy as well as having a trophy presented to their home school to display in their trophy case.

The bee was sponsored by the Office of Mathematics Education led by Executive Director, Dr. Irene Norde.

The morning division of competitors began with approximately 62 1^st - 2^nd graders. Retiring Emergency Manager Roy Roberts began the event by thanking the parents who attended telling them, “You make the difference.  You are the first teacher.”  He segued into an appropriately brief speech to these grade level students encouraging them to be proud of their accomplishments and reminding them of the importance of math in any career and in daily living.  He wrapped up his message with, “Everybody on stage is already a winner.  You started the competition.”

There were tense moments in the audience as each child was given 6 seconds to complete an addition or subtraction problem.  The final round included two-step addition/subtraction problems, example 17 – 9 + 5.  They were able to read the problem from a projection board as well as hear the moderator verbally give them the problem.  A panel of four judges determined if an answer was valid or invalid based on the ring of the buzzer.  Many students answered on the ring and were allowed to continue to the next round.  By Round 4, the time limit was decreased to 4 seconds and soon there remained only two competitors, 2^nd grader Kapre Quinnie and 1^st grader Keely Hudson.  Keely almost walked away with the title as Kapre answered a problem incorrectly.  However, Keely had to answer that problem and the following problem correctly.  She did not, that put Kapre back in the competition answering a few more problems correctly and soon she won the competition.

The afternoon Bee was held in the same fashion with approximately 80 students for grades 3 - 5.  Their math problems were slightly more difficult as they were 2-step multiplication/division problems, example 9 x 8 x 2.  There was an initial 4-second time limit with many students leaving the stage at the 3-second time limit.  Finally, 2 seconds were allowed for the Championship Round and Arianna Parham came in 1^st place.

Parents, students, educators and other staff all seemed to enjoy the event.  Ms. Johnson, 5^th grade Math teacher at Marquette and Kapre Quinnie’s coach stated, “We are very proud of the results.  Kapre worked diligently to prepare for this event.”  Although most participants would walk away with a participation certificate, the most important benefit was the exposure.  Ina McKee, parent of competitor Rayveon Mason from Holmes Elementary, stated, “I’m glad that she was able to come out and compete.  I am very pleased with how it all came together.”