Congratulations to Davis students Mia Dufault and Marlene Martine for securing the first and second places in the Congressional Art Competition held annually during the spring. This competition serves as a platform to acknowledge and foster artistic talent at a national level and within Washington's 4th District.

Mia Dufault's winning entry, titled "A Pulse of America," is a portrayal of Mt. Rainier. She enthusiastically expressed, "It's very special to me that other people can also find meaning in the art piece, and it's really great to have something that I really enjoy be honored and recognized."

As the 2023 winning artwork from our district's competition, Mia's piece will be on display in the U.S. Capitol for an entire year as well as showcased on the Congressional Art Competition page of House.gov, further amplifying its reach and recognition. Marlene Martine’s fruit still life was the second place winner and will be hanging in the congressional district office next year. 

We are so proud of these students for sharing their talents and representing our district with success!

The Yakima Symphony presents a youth concert each year at the Capitol Theatre. This year 1,250 YSD students and staff attended the event on April 28th. The concert is mixed with some education as each piece is introduced and the conductor shares the names and key features in the music. There is also some time to share about certain instruments and students also get to ask questions. This year, the big finale was the Star Wars theme which brought shouts of joy and recognition from students. The Yakima Symphony Orchestra was incorporated in 1971 and the orchestra has garnered two ASCAP awards for adventurous programming, including a number of world and local premieres.  The YSO has two youth orchestras, the Yakima Youth Symphony Orchestra (YYSO) and Yakima Ensemble for Strings (YES!) and the 100+ voice Yakima Symphony Chorus. We want to thank the symphony and the Capitol Theatre as well as the administrators and bus drivers who made the opportunity for art possible.

As our elementary students prepare to move to middle school, exciting options await them in the music department. As part of a promotion for our middle school band, orchestra and choir, each building hosted a group of fifth grade students from their feeder school and shared instrument types, sounds and a small concert from each section. Our fifth grade students were very excited to travel to their next home and meet the staff in our amazing music departments!

During the presentations, the music directors, counselors, principals and even Dr. Greene addressed incoming fifth graders and shared their welcome and enthusiasm for the new sixth graders. Thank you to our elementary and middle school administrators for supporting this visit and to our fifth grade and middle school music staff who made the events so successful! We look forward to hearing all the joyful sound's from our sixth graders next year.