Humanities Program turns 20

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Humanities Program at the Voorheesville Central Schools. On May 7, a reception was held to commemorate the anniversary.

Program celebrates 20 years

By Lydia Tobler, Humanities coordinator

Every year there seem to be new "initiatives" thrust on school districts, either on the state or national level, in the name of improving the education of a child. The striving towards excellence is, as it should be, unceasing. Voorheesville has been no different than any other New York State public school in trying to move on a positive path through the education maze. However, Voorheesville has something no other Capital District school has; something supported not only district-wide, which tries to incite student excitement for learning by engaging different learning modalities, and which has contributed to surrounding students with an environment conducive to learning. That something, which has been constant throughout the last twenty years, is the teacher-initiated Humanities Committee.

I write teacher initiated because the beginning of a formal Humanities organization at Voorheesville was the outgrowth of a 1987 conversation between two teachers discussing the value of arts, in general, and the state of arts education in Voorheesville at that time – how it would be different "if only we could…" . What was different in this instance from any other lunch-time philosophical discussion over sandwiches was the conscious decision to actually do something. The pebble had been dropped in the water and the ripple effect had begun to spread: two teachers, three teachers, a group of teachers, a group of teachers and a principal, a superintendent, a board of education, parents, and community organizations. The circle kept widening.

Throughout these twenty years, out students have experienced performances by local guest artists as well as by performers from all the major continents. Our children have experience workshops given by community members as well as by artists who normally work at major performing arts centers in the United States and abroad. Our facilities have greatly improved with an expanded music suite, art galleries in both buildings, the art suite at the Middle School/High School and the Performing Arts Center. In the last twenty years, relevant new courses have been added to the curriculum and both the art and music programs have increased their enrollment.

The 1987 "Official Statement of Purpose for the Humanities Committee" is as relevant in 2007 as it was back then: "…to nurture an awareness of the humanities in the school district and to provide guidance and leadership by improving the school's physical environment, expanding and enriching the curriculum, and fostering a continuous series of in-house programming. The Committee will serve to synthesize the cultural interests of the students, faculty, and community and to research funding sources outside of the school district."

None of the above would have been possible without partnerships with other organizations, both local groups and those beyond our district’s borders. More than two-thirds of this year's Humanities budget has come from either local organizations or grants (totaling more than $100,000 in the last twenty years). Without our on-going relationships and support from the PTA, the Friends of Music, Old Songs Inc., the Voorheesville Community and School Foundation, and the Voorheesville Public Library, we would not have been able to offer the programs and workshops for students that we do now. The same would be the case without grants throughout the years form such groups as the New York State Council on the Arts, Scholars-in-School, Teahcer Center, The Arts Center, and Folger Shakespeare, to name just a few.

Without support of outside groups, programs from this year's calendar like Shakespeare and Company's "Macbeth," Lake George Opera's "Little Red's Most Unusual Day," and The Puppet People's "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" would not be offered. Gone would be workshops that help bring curriculum to life for students such as Christopher Shaw’s residency with Grade 7 on the French and Indian War, Bells and Morley’s residency with Grade 6 on the Middle Ages of Duane Halverson’s presentation (complete with his husky) bringing the Arctic to life with tales of his Iditarod experiences. And, most importantly, none of the above would be possible without the support of the Board of Education and the taxpayers of the school district.

As we begin another twenty years of arts education in Voorheesville, we need to remember the big question we asked ourselves in 1989, two years after the committee began: What kind of person will we graduate? What kind of person will Voorheesville be sending off to college and the world of work? In the twenty-first century, amid the complexities of our everyday world, education itself has become more complex. But, the same question needs to be answered.

Through the arts – music, theater, dance, and visual art – students have an opportunity to learn through many different approaches to learning. Yes, math. Yes, science. But yes also to an education that, as Linda Wolkenbreit wrote in 1996, helps to instill in graduates, "Hearts and minds educated to understand self, others, and the diverse cultures of the world." Yes to an education which enriches the lives of students and make learning more alive and relevant to them. Yes to Humanities.