Hawthorne School wins Kennedy Center award

By GAIL SCHONTZLER, Chronicle Staff Writer

Fifth-graders Georgia Haniuk, Harrison Howard and Andrew Scherffius may be only 10 years old, but when asked to perform for strangers at a moment's notice, they're as confident as stage veterans.

Georgia delivers a humorous monologue about deciding to become a vegetarian after seeing a "bald and dead" chicken in the kitchen.

Harrison acts out the roles of a beleaguered brother, annoying little sister, parents and a Venus fly trap.

Andrew, who has been learning classical guitar since age 6, says he likes the challenge of more difficult chords.

Poise beyond their years is no doubt one of the reasons their school, Hawthorne, is being honored as having one of the five most outstanding school arts programs in the nation.

"Performance is one of our bottom lines," Principal Marilyn Delger said Monday, "because the bottom line is -- Life is a huge performance."

The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts chose Bozeman's Hawthorne School as one of its five Creative Ticket National Schools of Distinction for 2005.

As a result, a group of Hawthorne students will travel next March to Washington, D.C., and perform on the Millennium stage at the famed Kennedy Center.

Delger said the school was first chosen by the Montana Arts Alliance. Then it had to send videotapes and slides of its kids in action to the national selection committee.

Since 1991 Hawthorne has put "arts at the heart" of learning, according to the Kennedy Center press release. All kinds of arts -- from mime to calligraphy to Shakespeare -- are incorporated into teaching.

The school credits the arts approach with improving academic achievement, kids' enthusiasm, self-esteem, human understanding and creative problem-solving. Parents raise $25,000 a year through an annual art auction to pay for the arts program.

Once notified of the honor, Hawthorne held an audition to choose 26 students who would represent the school in Washington. In all, 53 children tried out, by singing or reciting poetry, playing violin or piano, or performing ballet or jazz dances.

"I'm real excited," said Georgia, who wants to be an actress someday. "It'll be so fun. I've never been to Washington, D.C."

She and several Hawthorne students did get to go to New York City in 2004 as part of the Montana children's chorus that performed at Carnegie Hall.

Several have also gained stage experience doing after-school plays, puppet shows, story telling and Shakespeare at drama workshops led by Susie Miller.

Miller, whose children used to attend Hawthorne, has been put in charge of the Kennedy Center performance. She said they're planning to put together a variety of favorite America poetry and music in "An American Kaleidoscope." Robert Frost and Casey at the Bat are likely to be part of the 25-minute performance.

The kids don't seem to need any convincing that the arts are a great way to learn. Harrison said long after forgetting some of the books he read in kindergarten, he still remembers acting in "The Space Mice."

Reader Comments