Crotched Mountain School received the Arts in Health award during the Governor’s Arts awards ceremony on Oct. 21.
The New Hampshire’s Governor’s Arts Awards is held biennially to recognize the contributions of individuals, organizations and communities that make a difference in quality of life in New Hampshire through the arts.
“Throughout the long history of Crotched Mountain School, arts and music have played a critical role in the education and enrichment of our students,” said Ned Olney, Crotched Mountain’s President and CEO. “We are honored by this recognition and what it says about the power of creative expression for people of all abilities.”
The ceremony marked Olney’s first day in his position at the school.
The Arts in Health award is for individuals or nonprofits that provide increased access to the arts for people in health care settings or with physical, mental or emotional disabilities. David Johnson, the vice president of marketing and communications for the school, said art and music have been part of the Crotched Mountain fabric since it opened as a school for children with polio in the 1950s.
Today, Johnson said, “we are unique in the depth and the richness we have.” Students can go to an art class during the day, and participate in a variety of after school art programs including drama, music, and singing. The school features dedicated spaces where students can dance and do yoga.
“There’s a kiln, they can take advantage of all these musical instruments,” he said.
The school also has an artist in residence program, where visiting instructors lead students in programs like hip hop percussion and ceramics.
“It’s all about that discovery,” Johnson said, citing the programs as opportunities for students “to try things and discover things they really like.”
Barbara DeVore, a Mason resident attending the ceremony, said Johnson told a story that “brought tears to your eyes” about the impact of the school’s arts curriculum on one particular student. Johnson said the student had an autism diagnosis, communication challenges, and a seizure disorder, and had difficulty transmitting how he was feeling on a particular day.
“But he loved to draw,” Johnson said, particularly monsters.
One day, the student’s art teacher, his staff, and other teachers realized they could interpret his drawings to understand how he was feeling. A blue box around the monster indicated the student was feeling sad, whereas a red box indicated anger. Johnson said the student even drew to indicate that he felt a seizure coming on.
“The encouragement in the art class really unlocked that communication ability for him,” Johnson said, “He’s come a long way.” The student will graduate in May.
Laura Akerley of Peterborough nominated the school for the award, Johnson said, and they received letters of endorsement from parents of students, as well as collaborators who have brought artistic experiences to campus.
“We were very honored to take part,” he said, and to be recognized by the New Hampshire Council for the Arts, which provides many of the grants the school uses. Johnson said the school had been nominated for the 2017 awards as well.
The Crotched Mountain School plans to continue to strengthen and experiment with its arts curriculum.
“The art teacher is always exploring new things… our music teacher has a lot of energy,” Johnson said. “We’re always…looking at workshops for the future, always adding and refining and looking for cool new things in the after school programs.”