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Students from Harriet Gibbons High School visited
the University at Albany on Friday, Oct. 6 for a sampling of its
cultural offerings, including a unique performance of the dance show,
“Spill Out!”
 The visit also included a tour of the Washington
Avenue University’s Fine Arts Museum, and talks with faculty members
from the Theater and Music departments.
In the first year of the redesigned Harriet Gibbons
High School, school staff said field trips such as these are an
extension of the learning experience offered at the school. The program
at Harriet Gibbons High School was revamped for the 2006-07 school year
to include an intensive academic and social support for 9th
grade students. The goal for us at HGHS is to prepare them for later
success at Albany High School, and ultimately college.
“I’m so excited that this early in the school year
we were able to expose our students to a college setting,” said Harriet
Gibbons Principal Anthony Clement. “We are preparing them for success at
Albany High School, but we also want to broaden their horizons even
further, and allow them to envision college as part of their future.”
At the Fine Arts Museum, students viewed the works
of contemporary painter Julie Heffernan.
Students Wayne Wallace and Justin Jones said they
enjoyed the visit, particularly because they are both interested in art.
Student groups also received an overview of the
university’s Music Department from Associate Professor Reed Hoyt, and
learned about the Theater Department’s offerings from Adjunct Professor
Michael Rosenthal.
Rosenthal encouraged students to think about the
theater, but bring passion and take risks in anything they
 pursue.
“You have an opportunity to find yourself,” he said
about the theater. “You have an opportunity to tell stories that might
touch people you don’t even know.”
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