Students Bring Down the House With Island Leis and Beatles Tunes for National Art Fest

Music and creativity practically poured out of Port Chester's every nook and cranny Wednesday as local schools gave a nod to performance and visual arts.

The occasion was National Arts in the Schools Day, and the mission was to use self-expression as a tool to foster learning. By the looks of it, sponsors Port Chester Council for the Arts got its wish as every classroom could be seen either acting, reading, or singing the afternoon away.

At Port Chester Middle School, girls donned island leis and sunglasses as they let their imaginations take them to a dancing beaches of Indonesia.

As this lesson acted as a virtual postcard to other parts of the world, John F. Kennedy Magnet School reminded students of some traditions closer to home. After 5th graders of the OASIS after-school program waltzed and dipped across the stage for a ballroom dancing show, the opening chords of The Beatles' tune "Here Comes the Sun" and other songs found on tonight's spring concert program rang out through the doors of the auditorium.

Did you know there are even blueprints made to make wall art? Second graders here learned from local artist Terry Taylor what went into making a colorful mural lining one of the school walls.

The day closed with a Crawford Park Mansion reception to celebrate Principal of Thomas Edison School Dr. Eileen Santiago. For her unwavering commitment to the arts throughout a 15-year tenure in Port Chester, she pioneered such events as the school's Gallery Walk and proved herself to be a worthy recipient of Port Chester Council for the Arts' Arts Advocate Award.

Take a look at our photo gallery that captured some of the day's events.