Bishop Ludden students share why art class feels like home
By Tami S. Scott, associate editor
Art is more than just another class at Bishop Ludden Jr/Sr High School. It carries a vibe all its own that students for years have likened to home. How? Why? What is it about art class? The radio playing music? The wax warmer? The walls, tables and floors embellished with names, paint and years-old memories?
They contribute, certainly. But the real reason is their teacher: Rhonda Henderson.
“[Mrs. Henderson] let my friend Megan get a bowl of cereal because she was hungry, [and] when we’re really cold, she has extra sweatshirts she gives us,” said 10th-grader Natalie Kearney.
Twins Brenna and Cailin Lillis, also in 10th grade, offered even more insight: “She comforts us. She understands us,” Brenna said. “She just gives us good mom advice,” said Cailin.
Pair Henderson’s nurturing soul with a creative environment where students can decompress for a time, and you’ve got yourself a “mom” away from mom in a “home” away from home.
Little love notes adorn art teacher Rhonda Henderson’s bulletin board located next to her desk.
Henderson said she thinks she’s become a mother figure to so many of her students, past and present, because she treats them like her own. She admits she’s lucky to be in a position where she can get to know them personally, too, where others teach subjects that demand more structure and offer less time for informal conversation.
“I might be one of the only adults that they open up to during the day,” said Henderson, who’s been with Ludden since 1996. She’s not only the head of the art department, but also the yearbook advisor, senior class moderator and chairperson for the annual Gala. “They’ll come put their head on my shoulder when they don’t feel good [or] they’ll be stressed out about a task.”
For instance, 10th-grader Meghan Ascioti often studies for her Spanish tests in class. So, as she’s painting, Henderson quizzes her on vocabulary words. “I’m like, alright, give me your words!” Henderson said, laughing, because she doesn’t know any Spanish; she was a French student.
For Ascioti, art is her favorite class: “[It’s] just like home in here,” she said. “You just come in [and] have a good time. Get your artwork done … just talking.”
“I think she’s just really sweet,” added another sophomore, Tess Gilbertsen, “but then [she] also knows how to control the room when she has to.”
Gilbertsen’s overall confidence in her creative work has shot up since taking Henderson’s class, too. “Tess has discovered that she can do things she didn’t think she could do,” said Henderson, beaming like a proud mom.
Being a mother figure for students comes with a responsibility of which Henderson is fully aware. She said that while most of the time is light-hearted and fun, students still often seek her specifically for advice or help. When they do, she always leads them to counseling – and always keeps the counselors in the loop. “I always make sure they know what’s going on,” she said.
In a sense, Henderson “grew up” at Ludden. She was 26 years old – young and single – when she first started teaching there. The students at that time thought of her more as “cool and hip” over being a second mom. As time went on, however, she shared many personal milestones with her Ludden family. She got engaged, married, bought their first house. And then came the babies.
“I was due at the end of the year, so I was [in school teaching] the whole time,” she said. “My kids were born in late May and early June. My students watched that whole process.”
Father Daniel Muscalino, pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church in Marcellus, was a fellow teacher and Bishop Ludden chaplain at that time. He presided over the wedding ceremony, baptized Henderson’s oldest son, Alec (now 22), and is godfather to her youngest, Cory (now 18).
Kids first meet Henderson during their second year in middle school. The eighth graders are staggered so half of them experience art from September through December and the other half from January to June. Once in high school, they have to fulfill their elective to meet New York state requirements, and from there they can stay with art, music – whatever they choose – until they graduate. Henderson said she retains quite a few students.
Senior Andrew Brunger has stuck with art since eighth grade, “Only because of her,” he said. Brunger admitted he’s not much of an artist, but she’s been his favorite teacher throughout his Ludden tenure. “She’s one that you can always go to talk to. [She] never judges.”
When seniors Christian Tetrault and Brayden Kitterle move on in the fall, they made no bones about the fact that they’ll miss her sense of humor, inspiration and support.
“I always tell them I’m only an email away when they graduate,” Henderson said.
‘Mary is my homegirl!’
When asked how our Blessed Mother Mary inspires her, Henderson smiled.
“One of my former students once had a T-shirt that pretty much says it all … ‘Mary is my homegirl!’” she said. “She is the strongest woman role model of all time. She is full of grace and faith and patience. She is a nurturer of life. I pray to her for help and patience because I have great trust in her.”
Henderson has a painting of Mary hanging on a wall at home that she describes as fun, modern and a little jazzy.
“I enjoy her gaze as I pass by it,” she said. “It gives me strength.”
Henderson is an active parishioner of St. Patrick’s Church in Jordan, where she is a lector and member of the Altar & Rosary Society. In 2016, she painted the mural of five saints in the basement of St. Patrick’s Marian Hall.
