Artists Join Educators

BERWICK – Artists and educators join together to benefit students at Central School in South Berwick.

According to Kate Smith, who teaches music at Central School, the after school program known as WOW (We Offer Wonders) aims to incorporate art into the program for elementary students Pre-K through third grade. The program has previously included lessons in performing arts, cooking and sports.

“We’re trying a new Artsy WOW, something we've never done before.” said Smith.

The four week program would likely start in November at a cost of $20 per child. The cost would cover snacks and a one hour lesson once a week from a local artist. The local artist would receive a sum of $100 regardless of how many students participated.

“Any extra money that could potentially be earned would be used for scholarship funds either for this WOW program or summer camps,” said Smith.

Students would assemble at 3:15 and take fifteen minutes to eat a light snack, use the bathroom and settle in. The lesson would then run from 3:30 to 4:30 and would be age appropriate for students as young as four and as old as nine.

Smith approached the Berwick Art Association at their September 18 meeting to recruit any artists that might be interested in teaching the course. Member Ruth Bleau showed immediate interest in working with the children.

Bleau said she wasn’t sure at first what art lessons she could offer the young students. However, the more she thought about it, the more she began to recall days of her own youth where she spent time outside collecting beautiful things and turning them into interesting objects.

“I would love to instill in these children a love of the outdoors, the beauty of everyday things,” said Bleau “I am thinking of collecting cones, acorns, leaves, bark, lichen - what have you and making objects. Cones turn into Christmas decorations, maybe we can make wreaths from evergreen branches. I would love to try bracelets made from birch bark. The idea is really to enjoy being outside and appreciating nature but with added benefits.”

This hands-on approach fits in ideally with Smith’s goal of encouraging kids to “wonder about the world”. We want students to stop and think about their curiosities or problems before running directly to Google or grabbing a calculator, explained Smith.

“Absolutely the ability to research is a good skill to have but so is the ability to investigate, problem solve, deduce, eliminate, estimate,” said Smith.

Smith also pointed out that with classes getting cut back kids have to make harder choices today about what lessons they want to pursue. Programs like WOW offer those children a chance to explore areas that are being cut from many school itineraries.

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