NaFo student to peers: Open heart, mind to art

Some high school students imagine “the real world” starts after graduation. Others feel they are already part of it. Nation Ford High School junior Muskan Bhadauria has taken up residence in the latter camp.

Bhadauria recently designed and coordinated a program to familiarize rising ninth graders with some of the art education opportunities available to them when the new school year begins Aug. 15.

“I wish I could have known more about the arts,” she reflected on her own experience entering high school. “I want kids my age back then to figure out what they’re interested in. There’s something for everyone.”

Bhadauria enlisted the help of classmates who created and led activities in theater, vocal and visual arts. Months of planning came together July 13 as a classroom full of middle school graduates composed songs, played dramatic games and worked with clay.

“It was completely her idea to do this whole program,” Nation Ford High School assistant principal Dr. Emily McQuay said of Bhadauria.

“She’s very passionate about the arts. This was very ambitious of her to come up with this idea and see it through to the very end…I think she wanted a way to showcase her passion for drama and her friends’ passions for fine arts and for chorus.”

McQuay said there are times when peer-to-peer teaching can be more effective at getting a point across.

“Teachers can stand up and say all day long, ‘Art is great. You should love drama. You should come take chorus,’ but when they hear it from another peer, they are so much more likely to get involved with it and think, ‘That’s something I can do.’ The kids here who participated were laughing and smiling, and I think it was very successful,” McQuay said.

This story was originally published July 15, 2016 at 11:39 AM with the headline "NaFo student to peers: Open heart, mind to art."