Arts extravaganza

Ashland May 18, 2008 11:49 pm

— Nine area school districts gathered in Central Park on Saturday afternoon for Spring into the Arts, entertaining hundreds of visitors at the bandstand in a variety of ways on a made-to-order day.
Choirs, bands, dance teams, cheerleaders and others were part of activities that also included craft booths. A free lunch was served.
Districts represented were Ashland Independent, Boyd County, Fairview Independent, Greenup County, Holy Family, Lawrence County, Raceland-Worthington Independent, Rose Hill Christian and Russell Independent. Students from all grade levels participated.
Arts and humanities teachers have worked since August to organize the showcase of student talent, according to Norma Meek, chairwoman of the event. Its twofold purpose was to show off students’ talents while strengthening their academic command of arts and humanities, which are part of the core content in Kentucky schools.
There was also some collaboration. For instance, the Russell, Paul G. Blazer and Boyd County high school choruses sang together and middle school bands from George M. Verity and Boyd County performed jointly.
Artists in the community set up stations to demonstrate sculpture, woodwork, jewelry and other forms. At other stations, students made and took home their own projects.
Each district had a tent and display boards to showcase student artwork.
There was a mass performance of the Cotton-Eye Joe at the nearby tennis courts. Students in all the districts had been practicing the folk dance. Meek plans to send video of the performance to the Guinness Book of World Records.
The event was conceived in the aftermath of a joint professional development session between arts and humanities teachers in the Ashland, Boyd County and Russell districts last fall. The districts are in a partnership with the Paramount Arts Center and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, which since 2001 has provided artists for professional development.