For the past seven years, students at Questar III’s Rensselaer Academy have had the opportunity to work with the Center for Creative Education as part of the Arts in Education program. This year, the culminating project consisted of students performing a variety of dance, musical, and spoken word pieces. Each performance part of the theme “Finding Your North Star”. The idea behind “Finding Your North Star” is that everyone has a special gift that they can connect to, and can use to make a difference in the world.
Bryant “Drew” Andrews is founder and director of the Center’s award-winning hip-hop dance troupe, and the Artistic Wellness Director at the Center. He has worked with students at Rensselaer Academy since 2009.
“The way we presented it [this year] was in the form of introducing children, to one person in not a country, but a continent. We learned four different continents, and one person from each continent that made a difference, to show that one person can make a difference,” Andrews said while introducing the program.
Andrews’ involvement started by teaching students dance routines as part of Black History Month. Eventually, his interactions with the students became more structured, and in 2011, Principal Karla McDowell and Behavior Intervention Coordinator Teresa Adalian-Gibson helped shape it into a program with a culminating project.
“What is so wonderful about Drew is that he includes every student. He connects to students on so many different levels,” said Adalian-Gibson.
Andrews brought several artists to the school to work with the students on poetry, art, dance, and drumming. This was the fifth time the students put together a final performance, and of course putting on a program like this is no easy task.
“The faculty of Rensselaer Academy are more than happy to assist in the project and are extremely flexible with their scheduling,” Adalian-Gibson said. “The event could not be successful without their support and participation.”
