There were three articles in the August 3 Mid-Hudson Times about outstanding projects and accomplishments by Newburgh Free Academy staff.

"NFA dancers perform at Disney World" by Jessica McAleese, was about a summer trip to Florida by the NFA Dance Ensemble. The dance students performed, received instruction, and participated in mock-auditions.

"They were really excited and it was a great experience for them," Clifford said. "A lot [of] my students are interested in maybe pursing futures in dance and this was a real life opportunity that will help them decide if it is something they want to do as a hobby or something they want to make a career out of."

In "NFA drama teacher publishes collection of plays" (also by Jessica McAleese) NFA drama teacher Terry Sandler was interviewed. Mr. Sandler's work has recently been published.

"My students make me the artist I am," he said, explaining that by getting published he is hopefully teaching them an important lesson about following their work to fruition.

Finally, "Summer a time for competitive running" by Bond Brundgard discussed Friday evening open track events organized by NFA Boys Track Coach Malcolm Burks.

These meets started 12 years ago, and Burks said they needed to help ensure athletes can train and compete away from their varsity and collegiate seasons.

They are for just about anyone who wants to compete.

The Dance Ensemble performance was also covered in this article in the Record.

Can't find the story about Mr. Sandler's publishing online, but here is another interesting one.

Here's the google cache of the summer track events story. (MHT site is not working.)

An excellent letter reiterating the importance of the Arts appeared in the Sentinel last week. High quality Arts programs provide immense value to students in the Newburgh School District. They provide ways for students to increase their understanding of the world, develop important skills, and excercise creativity. These days, when the offically sanctioned measure of success is a very narrow definition of "college and career ready"--measureable by standardized tests, of course--this letter is timely in several ways...

NFA production a reminder of important lessons

To the editor,

Woody Guthrie once said that his job was not so much to tell folks new stuff, but to remind them of all the old stuff that they keep forgetting. Bravo to the Newburgh Free Academy Arts Academy for doing just that.

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending the final performance of Arthur Miller's classic, The Crucible at NFA's black box theater. The acting was generally rock solid and often streaked with brilliance. Mr. Terry Sandler, surely one of the world's hardest working drama teachers, knows how to draw out the very best from his players. But the most impressive part of the evening for me was not the inspired performances of these young people, nor was it Mr. Sandler's inventive staging. It was the question and answer period that followed.

For those of you not familiar with The Crucible, it was written in the 1950's as a parable using the Salem Witch trials to expose the injustices of McCarthyism. But like all great works of its genre, its message extends far beyond the particulars of its era. Did the young actors understand that? Would they be able to apply Miller's insights into the mechanics of mass manipulation to today's headlines?

YES! In response to audience questions, one cast member spoke of the fear tactics used in the war on "terrorism" as having elements of a modern witch hunt it its extreme over reaction to a real, but exaggerated, threat. Another pointed out how the super rich use highly charged language, labeling their enemies "socialists" in much the same way that McCarthy used "communist" or the power brokers of Salem used the word "witch".

So here's a big thank you to Mr. Sandler and the talented young students of NFA for reminding me of some very, very important old lessons.

Bennett Weiss, Newburgh

An excellent blog post by Gary Stager summarizes the many benefits to learning inherent in the study of art, dance, music, and drama.

Recently, while teaching a class of 5-12 year-olds in a disadvantaged school, one kindergartener told me she wanted to be a ballerina when she grew up. I asked, "Do you take lessons or attend classes?" She replied, "I don’t need lessons.’ The teacher in me required that I respond by saying, "Sometimes, it’s a good idea to take lessons and practice if you want to become good at something." It was at that point that she got very cross, looked me straight in the eye and pointed a finger between my eyes and said, "School does not teach ballerina!"

I could not help but appreciate the powers of observation inherent in that confident and stern assertion. Indeed, school does not teach ballerina. Perhaps it should. Research, anecdotal evidence and common sense suggest that rich arts experiences are good for learning everything else.

Do read the whole thing.

The Times Herald-Record reports on preparations for the NFA's Second Annual Dancing With the Teachers Night.

The teachers also get the experience of stepping back into the student role where they don't have all the answers, dance teacher Mandy Clifford said. And judging from the atmosphere at school, many seem to be playing the role of model pupils. In most hallways this week, music emanated from behind partially closed doorways.

Excellent!