By Shannon Hicks

A few weeks ago, the students and a majority of the faculty at Newtown Middle School began issuing invitations to a celebration they would be presenting as a group on April 24. “A Celebration of The Arts” will be presented on from 6:30 to 8:30 pm Monday night, and everyone in town is invited.

In the past the school has presented an annual Spring Concert Night, on which students in different music programs were given time for performances. That has not changed; Concert Night will still be held this year.

The difference is, on April 24, students will not only be presenting musical performances, but also presentations of art in a wide variety of its forms. There will be computer generated art and music, theatrical performances, readings of short stories and poems to represent the literary arts, gymnastics demonstrations by student-members of the Newtown Special Olympics team, Spanish dance performances, a piñata exhibition, artists working on new works during the celebration… the list goes on.

“This is going to be a full celebration of the arts, not just the visual arts,” NMS art teacher Claudia Clancy explained.

There will be constant activity at the middle school Monday night, with events overlapping one another. Activities will be presented in the library, auditorium, gymnasium, art rooms, and classrooms of the school. For those who are unfamiliar with the floor plan of the building, don’t worry: Student docents, or trained tour guides, will also be part of the evening. The docents will be on hand to answer questions and provide information including directions all evening.

Excitement was building this week as plans were finalized and projects completed by the students. Laptop computers with original programs were being coveted by some students, while others were practicing their steps for the Spanish dances that will be performed. Some of the dancers have made their own skirts; others have borrowed theirs from a teacher who brought back a number of skirts from a trip to Mexico years ago.

Sixth grade students have been finishing their paintings on leather. Using India ink, which won’t run on the small bands of leather on which the young artists are painting, the children have been challenged with re-creating their own interpretation of cave art. Other students, having studied Greek architecture, will be presenting tiles on which they have painted.

Musicians in the Jazz Band and Orchestra will be performing in the auditorium, and smaller trios and quartets will be playing their selections around the building. There will be at least one trumpet trio, a saxophone quartet, and a clarinet quartet. One of the athletes who is a member of the Special Olympics gymnastics team, Robin DiPerrio, said she was nervous but also excited to be included in next week’s event.

“I think this is a good idea, because parents like to know what’s going on inside the schools,” said Leah Herity, a seventh grader, this week.

“It’ll be interesting,” added eighth grader Lynn Cupero. “It will be like a museum, and parents can come and look around and see all the things we’ve been doing.” Lynn will be among the members of the Art Enrichment program who will be working on new artworks in the art room Monday night.

“It’s especially good for the poets, and for the artists who do more unusual things,” said Allie Hornak, a seventh grade student. “We never really get a chance to show off these kinds of things. This will be nice for people to see what we’re doing.”

“We will be showing off everything the future holds,” seventh grader Ryan Kraft added. “We want to show everyone how good the future can be.”

“A Celebration of The Arts” is open to the public, free of charge. It will be presented at Newtown Middle School, at 11 Queen Street, on Monday, April 24, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Please note, entry into the middle school building will only be through the doors near the C-wing office; signs will be posted.