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Chevron Grant Supports OI Science Programs for Marshall County Schools

For students and teachers in Marshall County schools, science has gained a new perspective over the past three years. With funding from Chevron, Oglebay Institute’s Schrader Environmental Education Center partnered with Marshall County Schools to help students learn and retain science concepts better.

“Our partnership has resulted in outstanding learning opportunities like no other, for students in grades 1-6. This has been nothing but positive for Marshall County Schools,” said Woody Yoder, Marshall County Schools director of curriculum and instruction. “I continue to be extremely pleased with the programming and learning experiences for our students, in our schools and on location at the Schrader Center.”

Building Curiosity and Confidence

Thanks to Chevron’s support, the program has been very successful in teaching the science concepts identified as a need by the school teachers. Throughout three years, Schrader staff and Marshall County teachers worked together to ensure the program was meeting student learning objectives.

“I love how you build on the concepts and skills by prompting students to use their prior knowledge. This strategy certainly builds their curiosity and confidence to participate actively,” one teacher said.

Another commented, “The knowledge and materials used to meet our current content standards is superb.”

As students move through grade levels, programs build on knowledge delivered previously, resulting in deeper understanding and application of concepts.

Cody Stepanek, director of youth programs at the Schrader Center, commented on how well the fifth-grade REACH program prepared students for sixth-grade L.I.F.E. (Learning in Field Experience) Camp, a two-day field experience held at Grand Vue Park.

“It was inspiring to see these scientific concepts established at such a young age. These programs are critical in fostering a greater scientific awareness and creating a new generation of environmental stewards.”

Programs Impacted More Than 2,300 Students

From classroom experiments to field research, teaching strategies of Schrader’s staff stimulated scientific curiosity of more than 2,300 students.

This fall, Martins Ferry Middle School joins the excitement. Fifth-grade classes take on Schrader’s REACH program through a grant from the Smith-Goshen Rice Enrichment Fund.

The generous support of Chevron and the Smith-Goshen Rice Enrichment Fund makes it possible for students to gain a deeper understanding of their world.

Renowned Stride Pianist Tom Roberts Brings Chaplin’s “Silent” Films to Life at Towngate

Stride piano player Tom Roberts, joined by Mary Beth Malek on clarinet, brings his celebrated Charlie Chaplin Silent Picture Show to Oglebay Institute’s Towngate Theatre.  Join us at 8pm Saturday, June 16.

Enjoy an unmatched, magical experience! Roberts’ Charlie Chaplin Silent Picture Show is a showcase of scores for films, which Chaplin did not originally compose himself. In the spirit of Chaplin and his incredible legacy, listen to Tom’s original arrangements performed live against Chaplin’s films showing on the Towngate big screen.

A leading exponent of early jazz piano, Roberts has played everywhere from New York’s Carnegie Hall and the Tonight Show to the major jazz clubs in the French Quarter. Jazz Beat Magazine described him as “without question one of the finest pianists today.”

He has arranged and performed music for HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and Martin Scorsese’s Howard Hughes biopic “The Aviator.” He has also performed multiple times at The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He appeared on “A Prairie Home Companion” with Garrison Keillor and was pianist and musical director for Leon Redbone.

Tom Roberts

Roberts said he had always been interested in Charlie Chaplin. But in 2012 when the Pittsburgh Symphony commissioned him to compose original scores to two of Chaplin’s films – “The Rink” and “One A.M.,”– he became passionate.

“I was aware that the music becomes a major part of our experience when watching a silent film—the wrong music can totally destroy our experience of the film, ” he said.

Chaplin himself was well aware of that and, as soon as he could, he composed scores for the films that he owned. Chaplin stated that a profound sense of irony was the key ingredient: to juxtapose the most elegant music against the most outrageous slapstick and to also create an almost subconscious means for the audience to connect with the story and characters.

“I was so moved by what I saw that I spent a year and a half composing the music, studying the film to truly understand exactly what Chaplin meant. It needed to be exactly right, to make all of the connections between the characters and the story, as well as the underlying, dare I say, mysticism of the film,” Roberts said.

Since the initial two films, Roberts has scored two new films: “Kid Auto Races” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Chaplin’s first films, as well as the miraculous “The Pawn Shop.” He has toured his Charlie Chaplin Silent Picture Show throughout the region, hoping to share it with as many people as possible.

Watch an interview with Tom and see his work here.

Get Tickets

Tickets are just $10. Purchase at www.oionlne.com or by call 304-242-7700.