AMENIA — Despite the looming bad weather on Saturday morning, Feb. 25, the Webutuck STEAM fair was a resounding success. The Eugene Brooks Intermediate School (EBIS) gymnasium was the site of about 40 projects presented with titles ranging from the whimsical to the thoughtful.
Co-chairs and middle-school science teachers Danielle Fridstrom and Christine Gillette were gratified to see the results. “We were happy with the turnout this year and learned much from the enthusiastic participants,” Gillette noted, adding, “I think the key piece for getting students to participate is to encourage them to pick something that interests them. Whether it be dairy farms to corgis or Jolly Rancher candies, it is important to choose something they are excited about. This then makes the project fun and not a tedious task.”
As to differences in fairs from year to year and ongoing similarities, Fridstrom continued: “It was terrific to see the creativity this year — even jokes were added to ‘This Project is Bananas’! We always struggle getting seventh- to 12th-grade participants so we are thrilled to see any of them show up and present.”
That latter group was represented by 11 students with projects ranging from top winner “Gummy Bear Osmosis” to technical explorations like “Archery Science,” “What Puts the Pop in Popcorn?”, survey studies (“Jolly Rancher Preferences”), keen observations from real life in “Digestive System of a Cow” and the sobering “We Destroyed: The Oceans.”
On the value of the yearly fair, Fridstrom said, “It’s a great opportunity to practice doing science …While we certainly do lots of hands-on things in class, we’re always amazed at the kind of things students come up [with] to investigate, and it’s always exciting to see the investigations into things we don’t know answers to.”
The spirit of youthful playfulness was in evidence in projects with titles like “Tiny Dancers — Homopolar Motor,” MacGyver Award winner “Elephant Toothpaste,” and the hilarious and informative “This Project is Bananas!” by the ebullient Schultz sisters, Charlotte and Alivia.
The role of older student “listeners” was touching to observe. One was Gillette’s daughter Zoe, who reflected, “We get them to open up and reveal more than they thought they knew,” adding that it seemed wise that participation in the fair is a voluntary effort based on students’ deep interests.
Exploring our region’s natural resources with a family angle, two Lawrence siblings with firsthand knowledge explored dairy cows, one with the use of a drawing previously made by their mother and overlaid with anatomical terms relating to the bovine digestive system.
In terms of environmentally focused work, two projects took a broad view toward solving a problem that may seem intractable: plastic waste, particularly in our oceans. In “We Destroyed: The Oceans,” Lyla Kern and Andy Mersand, both seventh-graders, looked at the decomposition rate of plastic and paperlike materials in three conditions: plain water, water over time, and water containing enzymes. Though some materials may be labeled “flushable,” their investigations showed that those claims may be less than accurate.
Taking off from one of science history’s great serendipities, fourth-grader Zoe Gellweiler’s project, “Milk Plastic/Bioplastic! The Single Use Plastic Solution,” explained how, in 1897, German scientist Adolf Spitteler’s rather clumsy cat was responsible for the invention of casein. Pronounced “kay-seen,” the word refers both to the protein in milk that provides its white color as well as a type of plastic made from it. An overnight spill of formaldehyde into the feline’s milk bowl resulted in a hard, horn-like substance that was eventually used to make combs, buttons, buckles, beads, handles for various implements, pens, game pieces and even bowls until the 1930s.
Zoe’s project suggests that food wrap films made from casein could help to solve the problem of single-use plastics, since casein plastic is stronger and biodegradable under home composting conditions, without the toxicity of petroleum-based plastics. Whether our habits can revert to pre-petroleum practices or the deep links between the plastics and petrochemical industries can be undone are issues for adults to ponder.
The program ended with all participants receiving gift bags, some students getting book vouchers from Oblong, and winners in various categories claiming their prizes and certificates of participation. As adults helped to pack away projects destined for the County Science Fair at Dutchess Community College in late March, or the district’s upcoming Math and Science Night, several young scientists dashed around the cavernous gym, seeming to enact some basic principles of kinetic energy.
More information, and pictures of winners in all categories, are available on the Webutuck Central School District website -www.-webutuckschools.org
Second-grader Lois Musgrove indicates one of her favorite parts in her investigation of fossils. Photo by Deborah Maier
“Once Upon a Time in America” features ten portraits by artist Katro Storm.
Part of what became a capstone project for Wolgemuth, she left behind a comprehensive guide to help future student interns manage the gallery effectively. “Everything from who we should contact, the steps to take for everything, our donors,” Wilbur said. “It’s really extensive and it’s been a huge help.”
Art teacher Lilly Rand Barnett first met Storm a few years ago through his ICEHOUSE Project Space exhibition in Sharon, “Will It Grow in Sharon?” in which he planted cotton and tobacco as part of an exploration of ancestral heritage.
“And the plants did grow,” said Barnett. She asked Storm if her students could use them, and the resulting work became a project for that year’s Troutbeck Symposium, the annual student-led event in Amenia that uncovers little-known or under-told histories of marginalized communities, particularly BIPOC histories.
Last spring, Rand emailed to ask if Storm would consider a solo show at HVRHS. He agreed.
And just a few weeks ago, he arrived — paints, brushes and canvases in tow.
“When Katro came to start hanging everything, he took up a mini art residency in Ms. Rand’s room,” Wilbur said. “All her students were able to see his process and talk to him. It was great working with him.”
Perhaps more unexpected was his openness. “He really trusted us as curators and visionaries,” Wilbur said. “He said, ‘Do with it what you will.’”
Artist Katro StormNatalia Zukerman
Storm’s artistic training began at New Haven’s Educational Center for the Arts. His talent earned him a full scholarship to the Arts Institute of Boston, then Boston’s Museum School, where he painted seven oversized portraits of influential Black figures — in seven days — for his final project. Those works became the backbone of his early exhibitions, including at Howard University’s National Council for the Arts.
Storm has created several community murals like the 2009 READ Mural featuring local heroes, and several literacy and wellness murals at the Stetson Branch Library in New Haven. Today, he teaches and works, he said, “wherever I set up shop. Sometimes I go outside. Sometimes I’m on top of roofs. Wherever it is, I get the job done.”
His deep ties to education made a high school gallery an especially meaningful stop. “No one really knew who these people were except maybe John Lennon,” Storm said of the portraits in the show. “It’s really important for them to know James Baldwin and Shirley Chisholm. And now they do.”
The exhibition includes a wide list of subjects: James Baldwin, Shirley Chisholm, Redd Foxx, Jasper Johns, Marilyn Manson, William F. Buckley, Harold Hunter, John Lennon, as well as two deeply personal works — a portrait of Tracy Sherrod (“She’s a friend of mine… She had an interesting hairdo”) and a tribute to his late friend Nes Rivera. “Most of the time I choose my subjects because there are things I want to see,” Storm said.
Storm’s paintings, which he describes as “full frontal figuratism,” rely on drips, tonal shifts, and what feels like emerging depth. His process moves quickly. “It depends on how fast it needs to get done,” he said. “Sometimes I like to take the long way up the mountain. Instead of doing an outline, I just start coloring, blocking things off with light and dark until it starts to take shape.”
He’s currently in a black-and-white phase. “Right now, I’m inspired by black and white, the way I can really get contrast and depth.”
Work happens on multiple canvases at once. “Sometimes I’ll have five paintings going on at one time because I go through different moods, and then there’s the way the light hits,” he said. “It’s kind of like cooking. You’ve got a couple things going at once, a couple things cooking, and you just try to reach that deadline.”
For Wilbur, who has studied studio arts “ever since I was really young” and recently applied early decision to Vassar, the experience has been transformative. For Storm — an artist who built an early career painting seven portraits in seven days and has turned New York’s subway corridors into a makeshift museum — it has been another chance to merge artmaking with education, and to pass a torch to a new generation of curators.
Le Petit Ranch offers animal-assisted therapy and learning programs for children and seniors in Sheffield.
Le Petit Ranch operates out of two small structures next to the family’s home: a one-room schoolhouse for animal-assisted learning sessions and a compact stable for the three miniature horses, Mini Mac, Rocket and Miso. Other partner animals include two rescued Spanish greyhounds, Yayi and Ronya; four guinea pigs and a flock of chickens.
Borreda offers programs at the Scoville Library in Salisbury, at Salisbury Central School and surrounding towns to support those who benefit from non-traditional learning environments.
“Animal-assisted education partners with animals to support learning in math, reading, writing, language and physical education,” she said. One activity, equimotricité, has children lead miniature horses through obstacle courses to build autonomy, confidence and motor skills.
Child working with a miniature horse at Le Petit RanchMarjorie Borreda
She also brings her greyhounds into schools for a “min vet clinic,” a workshop that turns lessons on dog biology and measuring skills into hands-on, movement-based learning. A separate dog-bite prevention workshop teaches children how to read canine body language and respond calmly.
Parents and teachers report strong results. More than 90% of parents observed greater empathy, reduced anxiety, increased self-confidence and improved communication and cooperation in their children, and every parent said animal-assisted education made school more enjoyable — with many calling it “the highlight of their week.”
Weekly small-group sessions with seniors at Le Petit Ranch stimulates cognitive function and improves motor skills.Marjorie Borreda
Le Petit Ranch also serves seniors, including nursing home residents experiencing depression, social withdrawal or reduced physical activity. Weekly small-group sessions with animals can stimulate cognitive function and improve motor skills, balance and mobility.
Families can visit Le Petit Ranch for animal- assisted afterschool sessions, Frech immersion or family walks. She also offers programs for schools, libraries, community centers, churches, senior centers and nursing homes.
For more information, email info@lepetitranch.com, visit lepetitranch.com, follow @le.petit.ranch on Instagram or call 413-200-8081.
