The Level Six Concert is a November tradition at Turning Point. This concert offers an opportunity for our first-year middle school students to formally present themselves in public. In Performing Arts, students are awakened to the stories behind the songs they sing. It is vital that they learn aspects of the culture that surrounds the music and begin to recognize the power of song for survival, to restore spirits, to mourn our losses, and to document our history.

This year, our theme is Cajun music and songs that find their origins in New Orleans. From the first week of school, the students began learning classic Cajun tunes and even dabbled in the French language as they learned Le Hoogie Boogie (the Cajun hokey pokey). It is mid-November and they have learned thirteen new songs. They can tell you the symbolism behind the purple, gold and green of Mardi Gras. They can identify the fleur de lis and they are eager to try a King Cake and some jambalaya.

The twenty-five members of the Level Six class have also learned about Hurricane Katrina. They know of the devastation that was wrought on the people of New Orleans, especially in the Lower Ninth Ward. They watched the documentary films, After the Storm and Hurricane on the Bayou, and heard first-hand accounts from children and adults who lost their homes and have been separated from their families. They have researched charitable organizations that continue to help remove the debris of the storm and rebuild New Orleans. They grow ever more caring and compassionate, ever more aware of fellow Americans who are suffering. This care and compassion is evident in the poems they wrote in their Language Foundations class. Students learned parts of speech and poem structure by using the song lyrics of Le Hoogie Boogie, Down By the Riverside and Wade in the Water. These illustrated poems speak volumes and confirm that our students are learning far more than a handful of songs.


On November 23rd at 6:30 pm, the Level Six students will take the stage and present a theatrical concert entitled TROUBLE THE WATER. The text they speak is taken directly from the journal writings and poems of the children who experienced Hurricane Katrina, from the poetry our students created in Language Foundations, and from the After the Storm documentary. The children sing songs of celebration and lament and, in most cases, they find a way to skip to their blues. Laissez les bons temps rouler!!!