MIDDLEBURY — The Patricia A. Hannaford Career Center inducted seven students into the National Art Honor Society (NAHS) on May 17.
According to the National Art Education Association website, “In 1978, the National Art Education Association began the National Art Honor Society program to inspire and recognize students who have shown an outstanding ability and interest in arts. The NAHS strives to aid members in attaining the highest standards in art scholarship, character, and service, and to bring art education to the attention of the school and community.”
There are over 2,500 chapters of the National Arts Honor Society, but the Hannaford Career Center Chapter, chartered in 2002, is one of only three in the state of Vermont. The chapter is under the direction and advisement of art and design teacher Lisa Rader.
Career Center students who have a ‘B’ average in the visual and performing arts (music, dance, fine arts, theater, etc.) and show strong character are nominated by their Career Center program instructors to qualify for the NAHS induction process. Students must devise an independently led project called a ‘capstone project’ and are encouraged to work under the direction of an expert mentor.
Qualification for induction culminates with the student formally presenting their process and project to a panel of art adjudicators, as well as documenting their final artistic products to include in their portfolios.
The vision that shapes the Capstone Project is one where students identify and complete personally meaningful creative work. Students work in combination with their various schools and communities. The project itself is one that motivates and stimulates students to delve deeply and intensely into a specific topic.
The arts faculty at the Career Center believe that through this intellectually — and sometimes physically — intense project, students learn to produce independent, creative and high-quality work that exceeds high school standards and expectations. A capstone project is a special opportunity for students to really feel what it is like to work as an artist.
Acceptance into the NAHS is a rigorous process and is considered an honor. The following are the 2017 National Art Honor Society Inductees, their Career Center program course of study, their home school and their capstone project:
•  Noah Bessette (A.R.T., Mt. Abe): feature-length screenplay about Marquis de Lafayette.
•  Lillian Clark (Design & Illustration, VUHS): stop-frame animation.
•  Norah Deming (Design & Illustration, VUHS): wooden bowl turning.
•  Satchel McLaughlin (Design & Illustration, MUHS): downhill ski design, fabrication and graphic design.
•  Brooke Rubright (Design & Illustration, MUHS): redesign a natural science journal for elementary school students for publication.
•  Hannah Williams (Design & Illustration, MUHS): lyrical dance choreography, performance and video documentation.
•  Corey Wright (Mt. Abe, A.R.T.): costume design and historical research.
This year’s Outstanding Capstone Project was awarded to Satchel McLaughlin for creating an exemplary final artistic product. Her project spanned across disciplines — art, design, engineering, construction. She made use of community mentors from near and far, composed a detailed and professional-ready presentation of her findings, and maintained high academic marks in all of her classes.
The Career Center Arts & Humanities faculty would like to thank the mentors and consultants of our communities that advised, supported and encouraged our students through their capstone projects: Kurt Broderson, Daniel Houghton, Jake Burnham, Nathan Hanson, Caitlin Hurteau, Megan Hotte, Amy Clapp, Ed Lincoln, and Alyssa Bolden.
This story was provided by Lisa Rader of the Hannaford Career Center.