This is a full year course that introduces the student to the finer art of characterization and acting on stage.  Workshops include voice and diction, dialects, movement and stage combat, choreography, script study and stage work to prepare the student for actual performance.  Each student will study, rehearse and perform a series of monologues, duos and small group scenes in the class and participate in a staged performance each semester. 

This is a year-long focus for a limited number of 12th grade students. The ceramics class will cover hand building like pinch, coil and slab techniques. It includes learning to use the potter’s wheel, centering, adding handles and trimming clay vessels. Clay decoration techniques like graffiti, glazing and other surface decoration techniques will be introduced. The main emphasis will be on the body of work, growth in the medium and ability to create expressive, unified and cohesive three-dimensional forms in clay. The course will include participation in a ceramics community project and completion of a digital art portfolio.

Instrumental Performance and Ensemble is a theory and composition ­based course that provides instrumental players the opportunity to learn and practice the foundations of their instrument and how it fits into and complements an ensemble. It is open to all instrumentalists. Rudimentary elements of music will provide a basis for understanding the mechanics and lead the student to an understanding of both instrumental playing and the components of writing simple melodies and harmonizations. Through written, aural and played exercises the in­ class work will result in playing with a group for concerts and services on the campus. Prior experience playing an instrument and/or reading music is helpful but not required.

Vocal Ensemble provides the student with firsthand experience at serious performance. Students are instructed in vocal production technique, stylistic and genre specific skills for performance. The use of a varied and diverse repertoire is the key element of conflict for students in Vocal Ensemble. The use of regional and culturally significant songs brings a sense of place to a concert. Historical repertoire that requires the student to learn, interpret and pronounce songs in other languages is a standard part of the CCS Singers experience. Apart from standard liturgical Latin, songs in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Hebrew are often a part of the concerts. Emphasis on the American Spiritual repertoire is a key aspect of providing the students with points of reference and conflict as they come to understand when, how and why the songs were written and how they were used to both motivate change and bring about cultural awareness.