St. Anne’s Episcopal School, a preschool – 8th grade school located in Middletown, Delaware, was one of just 13 schools selected for the 2017 Longwood Gardens’ annual Children’s Christmas Tree Display. Interest in this exhibit is increasing and acceptance is highly competitive with over 40 applications received from three states this year. Tree displays must reflect the specified theme in some way, and all ornaments must be handmade by students. This is the first year that St. Anne’s was selected.
Third grade teachers Sue Kaminski and Stacie Emerson suggested a woodland theme for the St. Anne’s tree, and art teachers Charlotte Howard and Amy Sherman came up with a design. Each student crafted four different ornaments in accordance with the design, bringing the display to life.
“Visitors always admire our students’ high quality art,” remarked Head of School Peter Thayer, “Our students learn so much from Charlotte and Amy’s use of the Discipline Based Art Education method. I am very proud of our third graders’ beautiful exhibit at Longwood Gardens.”
As one of the selected schools, St. Anne’s third graders and students were awarded 30 tickets to see their exhibit and a small stipend for production costs. On a recent field trip the children were bursting with pride when they saw their tree on display inside the conservatory – it was gorgeous! Christmas time is Longwood Gardens’ busiest season, with 350,000 to 400,000 visitors in a 46 day period.
St. Anne’s Episcopal School focuses on academic excellence and spiritual growth in a small, family-oriented and diverse community. St. Anne’s is a co-ed independent day school for children in Preschool (age 3) through Grade 8. Transportation and after care available. Founded by visionary educators from St. Andrew’s School in 2002, our academic program prepares students for honors course work in the finest area high schools through its commitment to intellectual, spiritual, physical, social, and artistic growth and character development.
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