New Rochelle High School students have been preparing to showcase their works - paintings, videos, charcoal drawings and more - during New Rochelle and Pelham ArtsFest, which began today and ends Sunday.

Tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 5) is the day when festivalgoers will enjoy the students' works, from the Starbucks in the Wykagyl neighborhood to Hudson Park overlooking Echo Bay.

There is more to the works than meets the eye. Students in Performing and Visual Arts Education (PAVE) years 1, 2 and 3 - in the classes of teachers Alexi Brock, Scott Seaboldt and Moira McCaul - created charcoal drawings of trees around Huguenot Lake. That was part of a unit that involved a deeper exploration of trees. Students learned from arborist-turned-artist Frank Buddingh' (whose works will be on display in the Museum of Arts & Culture) and watched a TED talk on the ways in which trees communicate with each other.

"The arborist told us about the different hidden connections between trees," said sophomore Ben Cowles. "I never knew how interconnected the they are."

Their works, complementing the Buddingh' exhibit, will be on display outside the Museum of Arts & Culture in NRHS (near the entrance off Braemar and North avenues) from noon to 5 p.m.

PAVE 4 students have been preparing Venti on the Veranda, monologues and musical numbers they will perform on the patio of the Wykagyl Starbucks. Performances will include the "Fact Checker" monologue from the play Goodbye Charles and "Suppertime" from You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

The performance will take place from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Starbucks at 1278 North Ave.

Several classes joined together for a project that begins with a few poems and ends with multi-media displays. Students bring the verse to life and draw inspiration from it in paintings, dance and short movies. The project allows viewers to discover dance videos and other elements by holding up their smart phones to the paintings.

How does this expand the students' appreciation of the original poems?

"It takes the poem and applies it to all aspects of their lives," said teacher Anthony Stirpe, who spearheads the project. He has explained the process to national audiences at Apple Distinguished Educator Americas Institute.

The project will be on display in the House 4 cafeteria of NRHS during an Artisan Craft Market from noon to 5 p.m.

More paintings - these of flowers - will be on display at the Queen City Art Gallery in the lobby of Montefiore New Rochelle Hospital. They were created by students who studied the flower paintings of Georgia O'Keeffe and drew further inspiration from viewing flowers on a visit to the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx.

View the works between noon and 5 p.m. at the hospital, 101 Glover Johnson Place.

Students will also volunteer as face painters and pumpkin painters at Hudson Park Children's Greenhouse from noon to 3 p.m.

At several venues, students will serve as docents.

When children's book author James McLeod spoke to the students at George M. Davis Jr. Elementary School about being happy with who they are, he spoke from experience.

McLeod was bullied as a boy when he developed vitiligo. Now he speaks to audiences with upbeat energy to tell them it's OK to be different.

"My goal is to empower kids to overcome their insecurities and fears," said McLeod, the author of "The Boy Behind the Face." His website is "That Vitiligo Guy."

 

A force of infectious positive energy, McLeod spoke to the students in the school auditorium, then had pizza for lunch with some of them in the school library.

"It makes you feel good about yourself," fourth grader Cecilia Martinez said about his presentation.

Third grader Jake Bauman enjoyed McLeod's stories of how he overcame bullying.

"I was inspired by how he stood up for himself," he said.

The presentation also complemented a writing program the students are engaged in.

"In addition to supporting the inclusive ideals that we foster at Davis, it was a wonderful opportunity for students to see how the power of their own words and their own stories can have a positive impact on others," Principal Anthony Bambrola said. "All of our classes, from kindergarten through fifth grade, are engaged in narrative writing units right now. This presentation showed them that, no matter how young or old we are, our stories can change the world!"

Martinez was also impressed by McLeod - "He's strong and he's bold," she said - and she appreciated his message.

"It's good to be different," she said. "It makes you stand out."

The News 12 School Spirit Showdown continues, with New Rochelle High School is in the running! Vote now, and vote frequently. The rules of the contest allow you to vote every 12 minutes.

 

The contest runs through Oct. 21, as four winners are chosen.

 

So check it out and show your Purple Pride!

Students who need to decide whether to take the SAT or ACT for college entrance can get some practical help making their choice from a diagnostic exam that will be offered at New Rochelle High School on Saturday, Oct. 19 from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

 

The test is being offered by t he New Rochelle Fund for Educational Excellence in conjunction with Applerouth Test Prep.

 

The practice test will feature questions from both the SAT and ACT formats, and comes with a detailed score report that will assess which test type each student scored best with. The scores will be available the week after the exam and will highlight the student's strengths and weaknesses on each type of problem. 

 

Registration is required, and the fee is $30, with all proceeds going directly to New Rochelle Fund for Educational Excellence in support of the SAT/ACT Prep Program. 

 

To register, go to www.applerouth.com/signup and enter the event code M367650.  For sign-up help or questions, please contact the Fund at [email protected] or Jill Steinberg of Applerouth at [email protected] .

Please note that next week's regular Board of Education meeting will be held on Monday, Oct. 7 rather than Tuesday, when most meetings are held. The change was made because of Yom Kippur, which begins Tuesday evening and ends Wednesday.

Can't make it? The meeting will be streamed live on the City School District of New Rochelle's website, www.nred.org.