YOUTH ON THE GO
Six Rondout Valley Central School District students were recognized in the 2024 Hudson Valley Regional Scholastic Art Awards competition.
The students, who are in grades 8 through 12, competed against thousands of student artists from throughout the region. They were honored with Gold and Silver Key awards.
The following Rondout Valley High students were honored: School: Abby Chorzempa, Gold and Silver keys, photography; Ava VanGorder, Silver Key, photography; Anna Weber, Silver Key, self-portrait; Maceo Pileggi, Silver Key, ceramics; and Chloe Coonrod, Silver Key, ceramics.
Junior High student Ellie Zalewski received a Gold Key for her digitial portrait.
Gold and Silver award winners will be honored at a private event at the State University of New York at New Paltz. An art show displaying the students’ works that is open to the public is currently taking
place at the college’s Fine Arts Building Rotunda and is open through Friday, Feb. 23.
The competition is sponsored by Sullivan BOCES, Dutchess BOCES, Orange-Ulster BOCES, the Enlarged City School District of Middletown, and the Orange County Arts Council. Gold Key winners will go on to be judged at the national
level and, if chosen, will be honored at a ceremony at Carnegie Hall this spring.
The Scholastic Art Awards are the nation’s longest-running recognition program for creative students and the largest source of scholarships for talented young artists and writers. Artistic submissions are judged by luminaries in the visual arts,
and panelists look for works that best exemplify originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision.
Rondout Valley student submissions ranged from photographs and ceramic
pieces to charcoal work, still life creations, and beyond. • • •
Catskill High School technology students Madison Jones and Ingris Martinez recently put their talents into the successful restoration of a very special bench.
The bench they restored holds a poignant backstory. It belonged to a retired Ichabod Crane Central School District music teacher, Gail Helfer, whose husband cherished spending time on it, particularly during pleasant days on their property. Sadly, after her husband’s death, the bench sat neglected and deteriorating for some time.
Recognizing its sentimental value, Helfer approached Catskill High School technology teacher Brian McDonnell to see if anything could be done to restore the bench.
McDonnell brought the project to Jones, a senior in his independent architecture class; and Matinez, a junior in his principles of engineering class. The students dedicated the first quarter and a portion of the second quarter of the school year to this project, working collaboratively to restore the bench.