Shortridge Academy's Art Teacher Wins Award

Shortridge Academy is proud to announce that the jurors of the Professional Women's Photographers 35th Anniversary International Call selected our Art Teacher, Mary Ellen Bridges' for Entry. Mary Ellen's photo, Morning Mist 1, was selected from over 2000 entries for an Honorable Mention. This photo, along with the other winning entries is shown at www.pwponline.org.

Mary Ellen joined the Shortridge team in 2009 with almost 20 years of experience teaching many forms of art. She has worked with an extensive variety of mediums including charcoals, watercolors, glasswork, clay, metal jewelry making, stone carving, papermaking, and more. Mary Ellen received her MFA in Photography from Radford University and has BS in Art Education.

Shortridge Academy's Art Program includes both classes and extracurricular activities to enrich students at all levels of proficiency. In the Studio Arts classes an emphasis is put on Creativity (generating original designs/images which shows risk taking and problem solving) and Craftsmanship (the professional use of the materials involved in the project, attention to detail, and overall skill executed in the piece). Art class is a place for experimentation, risk taking, and self-expression while exposing the students to a broad spectrum of media and artistic styles. Although we introduce the students to a variety of artistic processes, they are encouraged to expand upon the basics if they have prior experience with a medium.

We also offer guided studio time for students interested in pursuing art at a deeper level. Students will often use this time to prepare portfolios for art school applications or simply to work more with a favorite medium.

Shortridge Academy is a year round, college preparatory, therapeutic boarding school for young men and women ages 14-17 years old at enrollment, grades 9-12. Shortridge Academy is one of only a few therapeutic boarding schools in the Northeast accredited by the rigorous New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) and the only school of its kind that explicitly utilizes the evidenced-based Positive Youth Development (PYD) curriculum to guide the individualized therapeutic programming for students. Since 2002, Shortridge Academy has been helping students and families who are struggling with academic performance, loss of interest in activities and increased conflict in family or peer relationships. For more information call 877-903-8968 or visit our website at www.shortridgeacademy.com.