by Erica Leigh
9/2/2018

An Extracurricular Alternative for Holliston Students

Online Courses in the Arts

Taught by HHS Alumna Erica Leigh Stenquist: Award-Winning Songwriter with a Degree from Berklee College of Music; Accomplished Visual Artist on Etsy.

"The Fine & Performing Arts were my refuge from grade-school social pressures."

Maybe your son or daughter shares this with me... I took every art, theater and music class that Holliston Public Schools had to offer because they filled me with joy and a sense of belonging.  The teachers nurtured my creativity, gave me a purpose and boosted my self esteem before going off to college. Arts education kept me on the right path, and exercised my brain so that I could achieve higher academic results.

Historically, funding for public school Arts programs has been limited, but there are so many kids who would thrive if offered more in-depth courses, and the opportunity to explore the outer edges of their creativity before getting to the college level.

I remember writing my first song for the Senior Showcase and thinking - if only I could have discovered this sooner!

Returning to HHS And What I Discovered...

A few years ago I taught a 2-day songwriting workshop with my former teacher Stu Britton.  He saw that his students were hungry for more knowledge about Songwriting and cared enough about their interests to act on that notion...

Thanks to Stu's desire to enrich his students (and former ones like me), we had the most wonderful experience. We analyzed popular songs and learned about the tools and tricks of the trade.  I was astounded by how eager the students were, like sponges ready to soak up something new. This year, I took my workshop to Hartford University and taught a similar middle school and high school age group.  When the students eagerly congregated in the hall afterwards to ask more questions,

"...it became clear to me that young people need more of this."

Beyond School Walls...

Bite-Size Online Courses that

Nurture Your Child's Creativity

I am excited to announce that I will be launching several short courses in music and art throughout the 2018-2019 school year!  These highly interactive online courses will be after school + weekends, via Outschool.com.

My first course will be:

"Anatomy of a Hit Song"

(Intro to Songwriting)

Sundays in September: 9/9 - 9/30.

3PM - Middle Schoolers 11-14 yrs.

4PM - High Schoolers 15-18 yrs.

Watch the Class Trailer: https://youtu.be/BRFGX6zckbM

Here is the link to the online classes: https://outschool.com/teachers/Erica-Leigh#uskpPAyUej