Sentinel
& Enterprise
Fine arts and media
get new recognition in school
By Drake Lucas
Tuesday, February
7, 2006 - LEOMINSTER -- Large signs designate Leominster High School's
"E" Wing as the Fine Arts and Media Education Academy, also
known as the FAME Academy, which houses the classrooms for music, art,
theater and media.
The wing is connected
to the rest of the school, but designated as the FAME Academy just this
year. Students and teachers say it feels like a different place already,
where students of the arts can come together.
"They were
always there; this gives them an identity," said Barry Lew, teacher
of TV production and theater. "For the first time, these students
have a legitimate place that is theirs."
April McHugh, a
senior and trumpet player, said the academy works because people choose
to be in it.
"Everyone in
it is excited about it," said McHugh. "Freshmen and sophomores
want to be a part of it because we seem so close-knit."
Leominster High
School is divided into four small schools, plus a technical school.
The FAME Academy
is an additional wing with art studios and theaters that all the small
schools share.
Students can apply
as sophomores to join the academy. They don't have to audition for the
program, but teachers conduct interviews with them to make sure they
are committed.
FAME classes are
open to all students as electives, but the 100 juniors and seniors in
the FAME Academy are more focused on the arts.
They still attend
academic classes in Leominster High Schools four small schools, but
take field trips together to see shows and museums. They also meet in
advisory groups -- twice-weekly sessions where students talk with a
teacher.
"I think it's
good for juniors and seniors who have been in the high school long enough
to know that this is what they want to do," said Marissa Monteiro,
a senior in the FAME Academy who enjoys ceramics, painting and drawing.
Jeff Smith, a senior
who takes TV production, said students who enjoy the arts often group
together anyway, so it makes sense to give them their own space.
Paul Wolfe, a senior
who participates in acting and singing at LHS, said though students
involved in the arts already know each other, the academy brings together
those who are truly committed to their craft.
"I think it's
the best idea the school has come up with in a long time," said
Wolfe. "We can focus on what we want to do."
He said the school
used to stick students in theater classes because they needed another
class and theater fit their schedule, even if the students didn't have
a strong interest in theater.
He said the academy
allows students who really want to take those classes to have priority
in the scheduling.
Barry Hudson, band
director, said he would like to see the FAME Academy develop into the
high school's sixth small school where students could take all of their
classes, academic as well as artistic.
"Find out what
kids are interested in and that brings them to school everyday,"
he said. "We always wonder, 'How do we change the current system
to accommodate tests?' There is a whole other area of the world we rarely
touch in public schools -- the world of the arts."
Teachers in the
program hope the program will shift so that core subjects, such as math,
science and history, are taught from an arts-related perspective.
Lew said they already
have plans to add an English class next year with such an emphasis.
He said history
can be studied through the art that was popular during a particular
period, and scientific principles can be used to explain dance.
"Some students
learn that way," said Lew. "I can learn math, but only if
I see how it relates to what I do."
Andrew Wawrzynaik,
a junior and trumpet player, said he took a robotics class as a freshman
and math made more sense when he saw how robots worked.
"It's easier
to learn stuff when you can apply it to something you are interested
in," he said.
Tom Ashton, a junior
involved in band and theater, said he likes the FAME program, but doesn't
want it to become a separate school.
"I like it
the way it is now, how we're mixed in with the rest of the school,"
said Ashton.
Junior David Letters
said the "E" wing kids would hang out anyway, but having extra
social events allows students from different arts to get to collaborate.
He said the community
can see the arts working together at the FAME Spectacular on April 6,
when the academy will have an art show the same night as its spring
music show.
