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Schenectady students

ND-BG wins in arts competition for the fifth consecutive year

Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School in Schenectady is home to Olympic champions.
For the fifth year in a row, students from the school placed in the New York State Art Teachers Association's Olympics of the Visual Arts competition.

Art teacher Suzanne Jackett took 18 students to the competition, held in Saratoga Springs. The group competed against students from more than 100 school districts in New York State.

There are several art categories in which the students compete; this year, they included: 

• drawing with contrast and texture; 

• painting, color, technique and mood; 

• fashion design (award show celebrity outfit); 

• illustration (Martian landscape with NASA base); 

• architecture (inflatable shelter); 

• jewelry and advertising de-sign (design an original piece of jewelry and magazine ad); 

• photography (fantasy portrait); and 

• sculpture (the geometry of nature).

Students work in teams on a long-term project in one of the categories. They also participate in a short-term project during the Olympic celebration, with 90 minutes to complete the process.

The ND-BG students won "Most Creative Design" in the fashion design competition. Ms. Jackett noted that this competition is particularly difficult because the item of clothing must be made out of paper. The students must also wear their design as part of the competition.

The winning fashion design team was made up of Alie Gosh and Taylor Cuomo. The middle-school fashion design team made up of Elana Costa and Jenn Cerrutti - participating in the competition for the first time - took fourth place. 

ND-BG also won first place in the jewelry and advertising design competition. That team included Taylor Allard, Debra Casagrande, Kim Tolentino, Jeff Ra, Alie Gillespie and Erin Gardner.

Taking third place in the high-school illustration competition were Lizz Allers, Liz Chevalier, Garrett Cherry, Katrina Urban-ski, Erin Dikeman and Breanna Speights. The middle-school drawing team included Luke Nosal and Josiah Hughes.

"We're the only Catholic school in five years to compete," Mrs. Jackett said; and "in five years, we've won six plaques."

Mrs. Jackett said participating in the competition is a positive learning experience: 

"It's a good extension of what we do in the classroom."

According to the New York State Art Teachers Association, participation in the event helps students develop problem-solving skills. Both the long-range and 90-minute projects require the students to strategize.

Organizers said the event presents a series of problems that require utilizing historical references, brainstorming, problem-solving and finding creative solutions.

(05/21/09) [[In-content Ad]]

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