Our Lady of Good Counsel High School (Montgomery County, Maryland) - Fine Arts

Fine Arts

All Good Counsel students are required to fulfill at least one art credit before graduation. However, many of the students in the arts programs are those who return every year to the program and advance through the different levels. Those seeking to fulfill just the one required credit enroll in what recurring students think of as classes largely intended for Freshmen (Beginning Percussion, Men's Chorus, Art Fundamentals, Intro to the Arts, and Intro to Theater).

Good Counsel has a vibrant visual arts program. This begins with the Art Fundamentals course, and continues through a variety of other courses that focus on drawing, sculpting, and artwork in other mediums. The highest level art course offered is the IB Art course, part of the school's International Baccalaureate program. Students in IB Art have an exposition of their work for the IB examiners in Good Counsel's Gallery hallway every spring, and sit for the IB exam in May. All art students store their work in portfolios, which grow and develop over their years in the program.

The school has a myriad of musical ensembles. The regular school-day ensembles are the Wind Ensemble, Symphonic Band, String Ensemble, Beginning and Advanced Percussion Ensembles, Honors Chorus, Mixed Chorus, Women's Chorus, Men's Chorus, and Liturgical Chorus. Several other ensembles for students more interested in the music program meet after school. The Jazz Ensemble, made up of saxophones, brasses, and a rhythm section, meets twice a week and plays music from a variety of eras. The Falcon Marching Band, made up of a wind section and drum battery, plays at home football games, as well as playoffs and the WCAC Championship, should the team qualify. Past shows have included one featuring the music of Chuck Mangione, one celebrating the school's 50th Anniversary, a Latin show, Michael Jackson, Journey, and other pop culture shows. Many of the students in Marching Band also participate in the Pep Band, a more low-key ensemble that plays at most of the home basketball games. Each year (around April), the majority of the students in the Fine Arts department participate in a "Band/Chorus Trip" to compete against other bands and choruses from around the country. This trip is an opportunity for students to experience and observe the sounds and techniques of bands and choruses from other regions of the nation. Recent trips have taken students and teachers to Disney World, Virginia Beach, The Bahamas, Toronto, and Myrtle Beach.

The school also has a rapidly developing theatrical department. Although the school has consistently put on a couple of shows a year, it is only within the past couple of years that Drama classes have become part of the curriculum. These include everything from Intro to theater to IB Theater. Previous shows produced include Pirates of Penzance, South Pacific, Lend Me a Tenor, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Cocoanuts, Charley's Aunt, Into the Woods, The Foreigner, and All Shook Up. The Theater Program has been working up a history of High Quality performances. The school does not currently have an auditorium so the Performing Arts Center at Sandy Spring Friends School has been used for performances. The school is in the process of raising the money to build an auditorium.