WOODBURY — The art program at Nonnewaug High School is one of the school’s hidden gems. From the outside looking in, the program looks effortless. However, the people involved in the arts work hard year-round to make the art program the award-winning department that it is.
Anyone who walks down the hallway at 5:30 p.m. might realize lights often are still on in the art room. That’s because the students in art classes and the National Art Honor Society are enjoying extra time in the studio and grinding on their projects.
Art teacher Leeza Desjardins has been at Nonnewaug for 31 years and is the advisor for the National Art Honor Society. She says that optional after-hours work sessions can be more beneficial than class time.
“When we are able to stay here later and come back at night, we don’t have any disruptions,” said Desjardins, “[like] getting up, going to English, worried about a math test. Instead, we get to focus for a good three or four hours.”
Students who choose to stay after are not just in regular art classes, but many are also in the National Art Honor Society. The honor society has high qualification standards like all other honor societies, including required grades and prerequisite courses, including the Art I Foundations class. Community service is also an important component of NAHS.
“You have to have 30-plus hours of community service every year,” said sophomore Morgan Willis, the NAHS parliamentarian said.
Not only are students working hard in school during their art classes, but many students enjoy their passion so much that their dedication frequently extends to after-school hours.
“Towards the end of the year, I would say I spend almost every single day after school for at least two hours in the art room to either help clean up to get extra community service hours, to prepare for [the art show], or work on some of my own projects,” said Willis.
Staying after school in the art room is not only for working on projects or preparing for events, but also it is a time to experiment with new art materials and techniques.
“It’s an open art room, it’s an open studio,” Desjardins said. “Students can throw on the wheel for the first time and try new things.”
Though students are working hard and trying new things, they are also having fun and bonding.
“There is nothing wrong with kids getting food, getting pizza and bringing it in and being a family and having some food together and talking to each other about art,” Desjardins said. “It is quality time.”
Like Desjardins, senior Audrey Rogers, president of the National Art Honor Society, agrees that the bond in the art room is like a family.
“The bond is very positive, very familial,” said Rogers. “We will have music going, have food and we will have a movie going. It’s all very connected and it’s easy to talk to anyone in the room.”
