Students in the sixth-grade at the Henniker Community School recently experienced hands-on learning through art, dance, and martial arts an expanded study of India during the school’s Artist-in-Residence program. Aligning with the social studies curriculum, the Artist in Residence program brings artists to the school to work with students to enrich their understanding of geography and culture from around the world.
This year’s Artist in Residence focused on India and began in December with a visit Sunanda Sahay who taught students about a form of folk painting from northern India that features pictures of nature and mythology. The sixth-graders then used acrylics and calligraphy pens to create their folk paintings of their own.
During the third week of January, three artists came to the school – dancer Jasmine Shah, Martial Arts Grandmaster Michael Couhie, and henna artist Denise Kelly and worked intensively with the sixth-graders for four days.
Matt Pierce, Executive Chief from Café Services, the Henniker Community School food service vendor, added to the school’s theme of India by preparing an Indian lunch for the entire school. On the menu, Tandoori chicken served with Basmati rice, Ghobi Matar (roasted cauliflower and peas), and Naan bread. Additionally, sixth-grade students and their guests were offered the opportunity to try more foods from India at a special tasting station featuring Alu Chole (chickpeas and potato), Tarka Dal (yellow lentil curry), Raj Mah (kidney bean curry), and Pao Bhaji-A (potato curry).
“The Artist in Residence program is a long-standing tradition at HCS. Students start looking forward to sixth-grade and sharing in the experience as soon as they’ve seen their first assembly with visiting artists,” commented Henniker Community School Principal Matthew Colby. “We are thankful for the continued support from the PTA and Henniker Community to offer this enriching opportunity to our students.”
The Artist in Residency Program at the Henniker Community School is made possible by support from the taxpayers of Henniker and the Henniker PTA. The Henniker AIR experience was coordinated by Beth Spaulding.