Inaugural Renaissance Fair Showcases Young Artists

With much preparation and many dedicated hours, the 8th-grade students at East Haven Academy (EHA) and Joseph Melillo Middle School (JMMS) put together an amazing collaboration of art, music and history for the inaugural EHA/JMMS Renaissance Fair. Its debut adorned the corridor between the two schools on Thursday, May 26.

About 100 8th-grade children worked under the direction of social studies and integrated language arts teachers from both schools. Mrs. Betsey Russell and Ms. Courtney Doherty from EHA teamed up with Mrs. Patty Scalesse and Mrs. Denise Serio from JMMS to facilitate an unbelievable array of talent from their students. 

Mrs. Maria Berte, a music teacher at EHA called on some of her band students to enhance the event with music, playing songs from yesteryear. Some of the teachers in attendance grabbed students to dance along with to the tunes of “I’ve Got Rhythm” and “Satin Doll.”

All of the artwork was amazing. However, two of the pieces that stood out were a clay sculpture made by Connor Brown and Alex Zbikowski that depicted a musician with a saxophone and a piano. 

“These two boys came down to my room every day for a week and worked on this piece,” said librarian Kim Lendroth. “They gave up their lunches to work on this project.” 

The second notable piece was a life-size black and white silhouette that scaled one of the long corridor windows. Toni Chambers, an 8th-grader at EHA, was the artist behind that one.

School principles John Prato and Marianne Johnson welcomed Superintendent Anthony Serio and Assistant Superintendent Erica Forti to the celebration showcasing these talented kids.