Housatonic Valley Waldorf School

Offering Public Panel Discussion, ‘Don’t Throw Out The Arts’

RIDGEFIELD — “Don’t Throw Out the Arts,” a panel discussion on the role of the arts in education, will be co-sponsored by Newtown’s Housatonic Valley Waldorf School, at The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, 258 Main Street (Route 35) in Ridgefield, on Tuesday, October 18, at 7 pm.

Panelists, who will discuss the benefits of arts education and the ramifications of cuts, will include Suzanne Enser-Ryan, Aldrich’s head of school, teacher and docent programs; Deirdre McCann, a pediatric occupational therapist; Dr Gerald Karnow, a family practitioner; Michael O’Donoghue, headmaster of the Old Westbury School of the Holy Child; and Attorney Neil H. Abramson, who authored the recently published novel, Unsaid. Melissa Merkling, founder of Housatonic Valley Waldorf School, will moderate the event.

 Open to the public, the discussion will focus on the relationship between the arts and a student’s creativity, self-worth and academic success, sensory integration issues, learning disabilities, focus, self-discipline, behavior, and socialization in school and, later, in the work place.

Apple Blossom School & Family Center of Wilton, The Clover Hill School of Norwalk, and The Garden Gate Early Childhood Program of Southbury are also co-sponsoring the event.

Space is limited and a $10 registration is recommended. The fee is $15 at the door.

For more information, contact Therese Lederer at 203-364-9881 or tlederer@waldorfct.org.