Bayonne Board of Education
Avenue A & 29th Street
Bayonne, New Jersey 07002
201-858-5800

CHOCOLATE ART

Press Release

Chocolate, that sweet creamy confection that most people indulge in on special occasions; how could it possibly be a part of The New Jersey Core Curriculum Standards? At Bayonne High School chocolate has everything to do with students becoming life long learners. Using chocolate as inspiration, fifteen teachers are working on projects that teach History, Mathematics, Art, English, World Language, Physical Education, Special Education, Ceramics, Computer Marketing and Culinary Arts. This chocolate seeking group was recently inspired by two special events.

On November 14th, a hundred students and their teachers attended The International Chocolate Show in New York City.

At the show, students learned about the cultures of the Aztec and Mayan people and how chocolate played an important part in their ancient society. They also learned how to cook recipes using chocolate. Representatives from international chocolate companies met with the students to explain how chocolate is made and shipped to global ports around the world. The students also explored the creative expressions of chocolate wedding gowns, shoes, skirts, and purses.

The highlight of the trip was meeting Mr. Syd Chidiac, a world-renowned professional artist who has recently exchanged his palate and oil paints for melted chocolate and food coloring.

On November 24th Mr. Chidiac a native of Australia arrived at Bayonne High School carrying his tools including a canvas, white chocolate morsels, a double boiler, food coloring and brushes to spend two hours demonstrating his techniques and sharing ideas. Under his watchful eye, students were invited to participate in the creation of a painting.

The finished masterpiece was a colorful still life of sunflowers in a vase that was inspired by the French artist Vincent Van Gogh.

The painting will be auctioned off in a fundraiser for charity. Proceeds of the painting will be going to purchase supplies for a battered women's shelter in Queens New York.

A special thanks to all of the people that contributed to making The Chocolate Connection Project a success. They include: Mr. Richard Baccarella, Principal, Bayonne High School, Mr. Dennis Degnan, Vice Principal, House Six, Mrs. Varda Wendroff, Director of World Languages and Bilingual Education, Mrs. Joan Rosen, Director of Music and Art, Mrs. Agnes Gillespie, Director of The Student Center and teachers: Mr. Joe Barbero and Mrs. Tina Casais, Culinary Arts, Mrs. Barbara Henry, English, Mrs. Maryanne Bleach, Physical Education, Mrs. Lisa Martinez, Mrs. Mikki Tavella, and Mrs. Maryrose Appel, World Languages, Mrs. Marcia Singer, School #14, Mrs. Regina Plesniarski, Ceramics, Mrs. Maryanne Novello, Mathamatics, Mr. Mike Olesky, Business and Technology, Mrs. Christina Poruczynski, Art and Ms. Terri Graham, Ceramics. Members of the project would like to express their gratitude to The Hudson County Human Relations Commission for the grant to fund this project.