Editor's Note: The following news release was issued by Lawrence Township Public Schools.

January marks the end of Lamont Dixon’s Artist-in-Residence tenure with Lawrence High School’s (LHS) Arts and Humanities Career Academy.

The culmination of his residency is noted with a presentation entitled “From the Page to the Stage: A Celebration of the Spoken Word” on Friday, Jan. 13, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in the LHS auditorium. LHS is located at 2525 Princeton Pike in Lawrence Township.

The Academy has hosted poetic and spoken-word artist Lamont Dixon from October to January, during which time students, through the theme of the Harlem Renaissance, learned to read, interpret, and create poetry.

Students will showcase this learning in the Jan. 13 spoken word performances. Music, faculty readings, a dramatic presentation, and a visual arts presentation will accompany the student poets’ offerings.

During his residency, Dixon has highlighted studies already embedded in the curriculum including the Harlem Renaissance and the ideals of Martin Luther King Jr. 

A native Philadelphian, Dixon trained at Freedom Theatre and the Philadelphia University of the Arts as well as Temple University’s Full Circle Improvisational Troupe.  His work has been featured in publications like African Voices, The Phylaxis, and Essence Magazine. He is the recipient of the Phylaxis Society’s Excellence in Literature award as well as the John G. Lewis Medal of Excellence for Art.

The Artist-in-Residence Program is through a partnership between the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and a consortium made up of arts Horizons and Young Audiences New Jersey. 

This program provides New Jersey schools with long-term artist residencies.  The program is made possible through state appropriations to the New Jersey State Council on the Arts as well as funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.

Still in its infant stages, the LHS Academy of Arts and Humanities, led by teacher-leader Jill Vaughn, is a small learning community focusing on literary arts and striving to expose its students to careers and opportunities in areas such as communications, fine and performing arts, government, law, and human services. 

The Academy boasts its current, standout programs that include music and theater; creative electives in photography, graphic arts, and television production; humanities courses in criminal law and sociology; and its Promising Teachers of Tomorrow program.

The Jan. 13 celebratory program is open to the public.