Students stretch and warm up their vocals, led by former Blue Man Group actor Isaac Eddy; brainstorm lighting for an upcoming performance with lighting design/technician/performer Cavan Meese; and discuss Maya Angelou’s “And Still I Rise” with award-winning Vermont poet Touissant St. Negritude.
The Vermont State University Castleton campus is buzzing with energy and excitement as 140 Vermont high school students explore a wide range of artistic media hands-on, including songwriting, basketweaving, filmmaking and much more. Harwood Union High School students Jordan Hunter; Victor Fowler; Kayla Darrow; and Ashton Babiarz are attending the Governor’s Institute on the Arts (GIA) this summer, along with 13 other Valley students attending one of the seven other Governor’s Institutes of Vermont (GIV) institutes on college campuses throughout the state. Five hundred twelve Vermont students are attending GIV this summer.
GIV is the parent organization that oversees and operates the institutes, which are one to two week-long residential programs in which students explore their passions. This summer’s Institutes include Arts (VSU Castleton); Engineering (Norwich University); Entrepreneurship (VSU Randolph); Environmental Science and Technology (University of Vermont); Global Issues and Youth Action (Landmark College); Health and Medicine (VSU Lyndon); Mathematical Sciences (UVM); and Technology and Design (Champlain College).
In addition to the GIA students, the Harwood GIV contingency includes: in Mathematical Sciences, Tina Pan, Waterbury; Callum MacCurtain, Duxbury; and Adleigh Franke, Duxbury; in Environmental Science: Ellie Buckingham, Waterbury; and Cailin Brooks, Duxbury; in Engineering: Savannah Pursel, Moretown; in Global Issues and Youth Action: Ella Scharf, Waterbury; in Health and Medicine: Anthony Fowler, Warren; in Technology and Design; Grady Hagenbuch, Waterbury Center; and Ronan Moran, Waterbury. Non-Harwood GIV students from The Valley include Rice Memorial High School student Lily Swan, Waterbury Center, in Environmental Science; Rice student Reese Billings, Waitsfield, in Global Issues and Youth Action; and homeschooler Scout Bednash, Warren, in Technology and Design.
The Valley Reporter checked in on the GIA students last week as they were getting settled.
Jordan Hunter, Waterbury Center, is a rising senior at Harwood. Asked why she applied to GIA, she said, “It was a little different from what I’m used to and I wanted to break out of my comfort zone and meet some new people.” She’s taking a graphic design class with Liz Moran. “It’s amazing, I’m really enjoying it,” Hunter said. “I’m taking Art Movements and trying to make a poster, which is really different for me; I’m enjoying it a lot and having a lot of fun with it, playing around. It’s interesting to step back from what I’m used to and try something new. Going into my senior year, I’m taking an advanced digital art class. I’m excited to take this and bring it back to my class.”
Mornings begin with the whole group singing together in the auditorium of the Fine Arts Center and days end with evening performances, including faculty/RA (many of whom are GIA alums) shows and student shows, visiting artists like Myra Flynn and the annual tradition of a contradance led by Andy Davis.
Asked about the highlights of the first few days, Hunter said, “Meeting my roommate has been really awesome. It’s really cool to meet everyone. Also doing our morning meetings and chorus time, where we all get together, we all sing, no one judges each other. That’s been really cool and really different from high school. No one cares what anyone looks like, what anyone identifies as; we’re all just a big community.”
Victor Fowler, Warren, also a rising senior at Harwood, is taking a comics class with Lillie Harris, as well as a poetry class. “Mainly I wanted to get more experience on character design for games. I definitely know I’m gaining more experience from here.”
“A lot of these young folks may not have had the experience of being in a community that values them, that listens to them, that affirms them. They should be seeing themself as a vital and essential member of the community,” GIA director Corey Harrower (himself a GIA alum) said.
“Although we are an arts institute, we are not just trying to produce artists. What we are trying to do is introduce these young folks to the tools that you use in an artistic process. The tools an artist uses — the creative tools, the exploration, the curiosity, the questioning, the self-reflection — those are tools which are useful in all aspects of society and they are fundamental tools that all young people should have,” Harrower said.
Meanwhile, students are exploring their passions at other GIV Institutes. At Global Issues and Youth Action, students heard from Senator Bernie Sanders and legislators and participated in a leadership workshop led by Congresswoman Becca Balint. Engineering students toured SOH Wind, Green Mountain Power, Dynah Power and the wastewater treatment plant in Essex. Coming up, math students will compete in an Amazing Race math challenge.
GIV HQ’s staff oversees all the logistics of operating the Institutes and supports the Institute faculty and staff. Gaia Uman Borrero, operations coordinator, attended GIA in 2011 and Global Issues in 2012 (she also grew up around GIA, where her father taught music). “We want to make these Institutes accessible to all students,” she said. “We have a sliding scale tuition model. No student is ever turned away on the basis of cost,” noting that payment plans are also available and GIV works with families to make sure the institutes are affordable for all. “All of this is possible because of a lot of very generous donations from sponsors, individuals, and corporations, and we are so grateful for that,” she said. Partial funding for GIV also comes from the state.
“The depth of these programs and how beneficial they can be to students, faculty, the community that is built at every institute, is so valuable to students,” Uman Borrero said.
GIV is celebrating its 40th anniversary at Castleton on July 29. Details and more information about GIV can be found at giv.org.
