The Arts and Letters Luncheon is a relatively new rite of spring and the kick –off to the awards season as The Gunnery’s commencement date approaches. It is a celebration of artistic endeavors performing, visual and written.
Beginning the celebration with a poem by Stephanie Hoffmann ‘10, John Alter announced the three junior students who received the highest grade on their JRP papers: Zach Bodnar ’11, Chuyan “Millie” Huang ’11, and Chaoyang Liu ’11. The school publishes these papers and keeps them in a permanent collection of student work.
Mr. Alter went on to present the Coffee House mug award to Joseph Löbb ’10 for his support and participation over the years.
Nick Benson then announced that Alejandro Castro ’12 had been nominated by the Connecticut State University system for an award in the annual CT Young Writers competition for his poetry, which, if he wins, will be published state wide. Teenage writers of prose and poetry from across Connecticut, ages 13-18, submitted original entries to this literary competition which awards winning entrants with cash prizes and an opportunity to have their work published in the literary journal of the Connecticut State University System, CT Review. Alejandro is one of twelve poetry finalists from Litchfield County.
Dr. Benson went on to honor senior students for their contributions in creative writing. “There are members of the graduating class that the English department honors for the strength and/or consistency of their contributions to creative writing at The Gunnery,” said Nick. Rob Badger, Zaid El Fanek, Stephanie Hoffmann, Isabel Levy-Nance, and “Michael” Yuze Sun were recognized for those efforts. “We have a variety of talents,” said Nick, “from lots of young writers who have begun to pipe up.”
Brian Lillie, Visual Arts chair, announced the five inductees into the school’s National Arts Honor Society for their excellence in the visual arts. Their personal creations, which included, still lifes, portraits, and landscapes in photographs, paintings, ceramics, and sculpture, were on display during the week of the Arts & Letters celebration. Zach Elston ’10 was elected for his excellence in photography. Yea Won Kim ’12 was honored for her fashion design which recently won 2nd place in the Cornell University national competition. Karen Layman ’10 was chosen for her two year commitment to the design and development of a video game. Nick Strelov ’10 earned a place through his excellent work in ceramics. And Katrina Kiritharan ’10 was chosen for her perseverance outside the classroom in pursuit of her art as well as her winning drawing in the Kent Art show.
Jennifer Wojcik announced that Amanda Kloth ’11 is one of 15 finalists in the Voices of Hope competition. The competition sponsored by the Local United Network to Combat Hunger (LUNCH) records a song written to encourage young people to combat hunger and the CD is distributed worldwide. If she wins, Amanda will receive a scholarship and be named an ambassador for the program.
Members of the 2009-2010 Tri-M Music Honor Society were recognized during the celebration. “This is an international honor society,” said Mrs. Wojcik, “recognizing secondary students for their musical ability, academic excellence, school involvement, and community service.” The inductees for the 2009-2010 Tri-M Music Society include: Sang Jun Baek ‘12, Benjamin Kantor ‘10, Allen Chang ‘10, Amanda Kloth’11, Jessica L’Heureux ‘10, Katrina Kiritharan ’10 and Joo Yun Lee’10.