Arts Night at St. Thomas Aquinas
Written by Christine Stornelli, Student Journalist
On Wednesday, May 22nd, St.Thomas Aquinas Secondary School in Tottenham hosted their annual Arts Night! The school was decorated with the beautiful works of Grade 9-12 visual arts, there were hairstyling and aesthetics demonstrations, beautiful pieces were performed by the competitive band and choir, class and jazz band, as well as a wonderful performance by students in the drama department.
Competitive choir and band performed a series of pieces including those they played at Regionals. Class band and our new jazz band performed pieces they have been perfecting for months.
Along with all of the beautiful art and performances, staff and students created a bake sale to raise money for the art, music, and drama departments.The treats were donated and guests were very generous supporting the arts programs.
Billy Joel once said, “I think music in itself is healing. It’s an explosive expression of humanity. It’s something we are all touched by. No matter what culture we’re from, everyone loves music”. This quote describes the importance of not only music, but visual and dramatic arts. Arts Night showed a community coming together to support a program that is important to so many students in our school.
Humanity is connected by the feeling we get when we watch a performance or see a project that was made with so much effort and love. As an art and music student, I appreciate the opportunity to showcase what I have worked on throughout the whole school year. The turnout for Arts Night was heartwarming, knowing that so many people came to recognize and appreciate hard-work.
Grade 10 student, Eryn M., attended Arts Night and says that she saw, “really amazing artworks and the play was hilarious”. A parent reported, “the students at the cosmetics booth did a beautiful job braiding my hair!” All of the feedback from the night was wonderful. Performances and art were being described as “outstanding”, “beautiful”, and “hard-work that showed”. Many thanks to Mrs. Vanderstelt, Mr. Federly, Mrs. Ziegler, Mrs. Raimondo and all of the staff and students who made Arts Night possible.
“Creativity is contagious, pass it on”- Albert Einstein