Just a mere ten years ago, Scituate High School’s band faced a traumatic experience when teens threw skittles at them during pep band performances. The school’s chorus was filled with rowdy participants who wished only to go on the Disney trip. Years later, there are countless improvements to the arts program in the Scituate Public Schools System that are noticed.
Every May, Scituate welcomes the new season with “Spring for the Arts,” a community event featuring art and music of students grades K-12. Starting right after school into the late evening, the bands and choruses perform a few songs they’ve worked on for many months. “It allows the community to come together and bond over the arts,” junior Joseph Downing said.
Many of the performances also include specialized groups such as jazz bands, women’s choirs, and men’s choirs. This day is also an important opportunity for the younger kids of the music program to look up to the SHS musicians. “It shows off people’s ability and the arts of the school. We’ve been working most of the year for this showcase so that everyone can be seen by more than just a certain amount of people,” said sophomore Jen Daniels.
Not only are the town musicians in the spotlight during Spring for the Arts, but a wide range of artwork is exhibited in the hallways and small gym of SHS. From first grade, art teachers inspire students to work extremely hard on a masterpiece they can flaunt to the town on this special day. Every year, the artwork gets more intricate and advanced as students work their way up to the high school level.
The small SHS gym is one fascinating display of Honors and Advanced Placement students’ work from over the year. This includes wall-length collages of numerous pieces, tables of clay structures, and miniature galleries of photos. “Little kids get to experience everything the middle and high school students do, like how the art progresses and what you do when you’re older because of more opportunities,” said senior Kelly Vickers, a tuba player in the band of SHS.
Spring for the Arts is more than just a day of music, art, and fun. It’s a sign of progress and achievement for the art and music programs of our town.