East Haven High School (EHHS) was bursting with student art at the fifth annual East Haven District Art Show on May 1, but visiting families also found a host of new programs and projects at work in the district.

What was once only an art show, featured a booth displaying the program’s computer numerical control (CNC) router and a ribbon cutting for the newly reopened school store.

“This is turning into a showcase for what we have here in East Haven,” EHHS art teacher Matt Stevens said.

According to Stevens, every student from pre-K to grade 12 enrolled in an art class this year had at least one project displayed, be it a painting, sculpture, or other.

The high school’s art gallery, Gallery 35, was also open during the event. The Drama Club sold tickets for its upcoming musical Big Fish, which will be performed Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11 at 7 p.m. in the EHHS auditorium.

The Buzzstop, EHHS’s new school store, was brought together by students working on their capstone projects and students from the transition academy with the help of the East Haven Chamber of Commerce (EHCC), which has partnered with the school to offer mentorship and internship opportunities.

The capstone program began in 2015 and is now a graduation requirement. It asks students to pursue a self-propelled learning project into the topic of their choice. Students have worked on everything from photography to woodworking with the help of mentors, who often come from EHCC contacts.

According to student advisors Marianne Adinolfi and Janet Carangelo, the students who tasked themselves with rebooting the school store cleaned up the storefront; created logos, commercials, and jingles; and found products with which to stock the store. Now, they’ll be running it throughout the school day.

The money earned by the store will go back into funding the capstone and transition programs.

The EHCC became involved with the EHHS capstone program when Juliet Goraeib reached out to the chamber for judges for the seniors’ capstone presentations. EHCC members were so impressed, they began to help out more and so the partnership was formed.

“[EHCC President Jenn Higham and I] kind of thought…what else can we do? We have all these resources, how can we bring the kids in?” said EHCC Chair Samantha Parlato. “A lot of these kids aren’t college ready, they’re career ready.”

For two years, EHCC members have been a resource for students looking for mentors on their senior capstone projects, which are often related to professional fields they are interested in. Students also hear from EHCC in assemblies where they learn what courses they should take in high school to get into their desired professions.

Getting the Buzzstop started is part of preparing the kids for business.

“Any business that comes into the town, when they join, we traditionally try to do a ribbon cutting for them,” Parlato said.

The Buzzstop will be an EHCC member and will have access to the resources the chamber provided should the students encounter trouble in the areas any regular business might.

EHHS technology education teacher Mike Ivarone was there to display a podium created with the school’s CNC router by Matt Lisko for his capstone project. Lisko had to program the Yellowjacket design into the machine, which then carried out the milling required to complete the project. The podium will be used in the school’s auditorium.

“We took the wood technology program, expanded it into 21st century learning. We take basic skills that they learn in wood technology and take it to a whole new level,” Ivarone said.

He says the school’s wood technology and automotive programs have been steadily growing for the past two years.