In the second week of April, Deerfield Academy’s Theater and Music co-curricular groups organized a collaborative and interactive concert with the Deerfield daycare down the street from the Academy. The students at Deerfield Academy eagerly welcomed the chance to interact and engage with students outside of their school.
Visual and Performing Arts Chair and Theater Director Catriona Hynds initiated the partnership between Deerfield’s performing arts students and the local daycare center. The movement-based initiative and the subsequent concert aimed to provide the daycare’s children with new opportunities to develop relationship-building skills.
“It was a tremendous experience, and I can’t believe we haven’t done this before,” Will Sussbauer ’23 from the Acting and Directing for Stage class said, going on to add that it was deeply fulfilling.
Three groups of Deerfield students visited the daycare center throughout the week leading up to the joint concert at the concert hall located within the daycare center. The co-curricular students planned the performances and interactive activities. Each group of Deerfield students focused on a different age group: toddlers who have not learned to speak, toddlers who can speak, and preschoolers. According to Sussbauer, the children at the daycare were initially nervous about interacting with the Deerfield students and engaging in unfamiliar activities, but they gradually became excited in interacting with the students performing.
The students at Deerfield Academy found the relationships they formed with the children at the daycare extremely rewarding and fulfilling. Lillian Regal ’24, part of the theater co-curricular, said, “Some of the children who are faculty kids remembered me, and that was really cool.”
Theatre “requires vulnerability at utmost,” Sussbauer said. The goal of the joint concert was to not only allow the advanced co-curricular students to engage with their interests outside of normal co-curricular events but also allow the daycare students a chance to engage with the arts, “pushing themselves to try new things,” as Regal described.