Natick Schools Receive Grant Funding Supporting Creative Learning

Boston – Representative David Linsky (D-Natick) announced today that Mass Cultural Council has named Lilja Elementary School and Natick resident David Hiller as recipients of the FY23 STARS Residencies program. This program helps to support creative learning as Massachusetts schools work to catch up on lost learning and address social-emotional challenges created by the pandemic. The STARS Residencies grants are key to this effort, providing $2,500-$6,100 to Massachusetts K-12 schools to support residencies of three days or more with a teaching artist, scientist, or humanist.

Thanks to the work of the Legislature, this grant round is working with the largest budget since the program began. As a result, this year’s grants total over $1.4 million to bring 186 artists, scientists, and humanists into 274 schools across the Commonwealth. These cultural partners will be engaging more than 30,000 students in creative learning during the 2022-2023 academic year.

“We’re tasked with helping out children become the next generation of leaders and role models within our communities,” said Representative Linsky. “I want to thank Mass Cultural Council for their commitment to engaging our students in creative learning.”

Fifth Middlesex Funding:

Lilja Elementary School

$6,100 for the artist in residence to work with all the students to draw their ideas about their neighborhood and natural life of our town in four different seasons, then to turn their pencil drawings into a large ceramic mural.

David Hiller, Harold Johnson Elementary School

$3,850 to give students and teachers from the 3rd grade the tools to explore a variety of scientific topics and see that science connects with their lives in a variety of ways.

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