By Sara Widmann’15 and Amaya Lopez-Silvero’15, Staff Writers 

Every Newark Academy student is aware of the arts requirement- one year of an arts course must be completed by each student in order to graduate. According to Dr. D, the typical curriculum requirements for New Jersey High schools are four years of English, and three years of Humanities, Math, and Science. Additionally, the state mandates that schools must offer four years of Health and Safety Education, teaching students about what it means to exercise and how they can learn to lead a healthier life. All of these requirements make the one-year arts requirement seem rather meager. How important is the arts requirement, really?

Most students complete the arts requirement in 9th grade. For many, the arts become nothing more than a fun memory from freshmen year, a low pressure time to try something outside of one’s comfort zone. For others, the arts become a major focus, as they can sample the various offerings of classes, ranging from painting to ceramics, to photography, music, and more. Multiple interviews with students and faculty shed light on the impact the arts have made, even though many only fulfill two semesters.

Lyrie Wang ’15, an avid dancer, proudly explained how, “dancing is an emotional outlet, a way to relieve [her] stress from school work.” Mrs. Brody, head of the arts department, supports Lyrie’s thoughts, as she believes, “the arts are intellectually demanding, as in art one must consider such things as relationship of forms, multiple solutions to one problem, divergent thinking; concepts that are expressed in a myriad of ways, often non-verbally.” Another student added, “I think the arts create a three-dimensional character and allow people to be creative in such a hard working environment.” As these comments indicate, the arts, particularly with the Academy’s many strong offerings, can have a profound influence on students and their development as young adults. Unlike athletics, which are optional, the arts requirement forces many students to try something different. This gives the kids the opportunity to not only choose an art class, but with the variety of options, they can explore something that they might not have considered before.

Despite its brevity, the arts requirement is something that people take seriously at Newark Academy. Many students cannot seem to get enough of the class and soon feel that they have developed an important passion. While this does not mean that every student loves it, each student should complete the requirement knowing that they have opened their eyes to a new form of expression. The arts requirement is a brief step out of the comfort zone for many Academy students and is especially important in the formative years of high school.