Newark Life Spring/Summer 2025

Spring/Summer 2025

Vol. 19

Newark Life

Magazine

Las Américas ASPIRA Academy

‘The seeds that you plant’ Page 46

Inside: • Avkin: Real world lessons in healthcare • UD’s Healthcare Theater: A theatrical twist • Q & A with Pamela Draper of the Newark Arts Alliance

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Table of Contents 10 Ethan Joella: Creating a world 20 30

that wasn’t there before

At UD, a theatrical twist for healthcare training Real-world lessons in healthcare, via wearable simulators

42 The 2025 Newark Garden Tour 46 Photo essay: Las Américas 52 60 8

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ASPIRA Academy

Q & A: Newark Arts Alliance Executive Director Pamela Draper Newark Calendar of Events

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Newark Life Spring/Summer 2025 Letter from the Editor: Ethan Joella is like any writer in the history of literature in that every smattering of sentences he overhears and every stranger’s face he memorizes and every hiss and hum of life that he walks through rightfully teeters on the brink of tipping madly into his stories. Over the last few years, Joella has published three novels that illuminate the unbreakable power of human connection.

We’re pleased, in this issue of Newark Life, to profile Joella and shine a spotlight on his work.

The world’s only fully automated, wearable birthing simulator is one of the coolest things made in Delaware, according to a 2024 Delaware State Chamber of Commerce contest. The fake blood is pretty cool, too, as are the simulated body parts worn by people trained as standardized patients and used as tools by students, EMTs and others in healthcare education. They’re all from Avkin, a Newport company founded by Amy Cowperthwait and Amy Erol, with market demand and technology behind the products based on their studies and work at the University of Delaware, and significantly incubated by UD’s Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships – plus outsiders like the Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership. In this issue, we not only take a look at the work at Avkin, we also delve into how the University of Delaware puts a theatrical twist on healthcare training through a multidisciplinary and accredited educational program.

After many years in downtown Newark, the Newark Arts Alliance moved to the Shoppes at Louviers last year, bringing that same quality of classes, public events and ingenuity to new students and audiences. Recently, Newark Life met with Newark Arts Alliance’s Executive Director Pamela Draper to discuss the Alliance’s new home, its popular Camp Imagine, the future of funding for the arts and Pamela’s very special dinner party.

The subject of the Newark Life photo essay is Las Américas ASPIRA Academy, and we wrap up this issue with a look at some upcoming events in the Newark area.

As always, we hope you enjoy these stories as much as we enjoyed preparing them for you. We always welcome comments and suggestions for stories to highlight in the future. We’re already hard at work on planning for the next issue of Newark Life, which will arrive in the fall of 2025.

Sincerely, 60

Avery Lieberman Eaton averyl@chestercounty.com Stone Lieberman stone@chestercounty.com Steve Hoffman, Editor editor@chestercounty.com

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|Newark Arts & Entertainment| Over the last few years, University of Delaware professor Ethan Joella has published three novels that illuminate the unbreakable power of human connection

Creating a world that , wasn t there before

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer “I’m beginning to think that maybe it’s not just how much you love someone. Maybe what matters is who you are when you’re with them.”

Anne Tyler, author Ethan Joella is like any writer in the history of literature in that every smattering of sentences he overhears and every stranger’s face he memorizes and every hiss and hum of life that he walks through rightfully teeters on the brink of tipping madly into his stories.

In the summer of 2021, within the skinny space of his mind’s eye, he imagined a middle-aged man outside of a wellestablished seaside restaurant dusty with a marina-like décor, a familiar place that has served generations of residents and beach-combing tourists. He heard the noises – how the key opens the creaky front door to the restaurant and the hum of 10

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the refrigerator in the kitchen. He felt the exhaustion of ritual that compels the man to return to the same restaurant as its owner, to the same experience every day, year after year.

What was happening in Joella’s headspace eventually found its way onto the page: From the time he was a child, Rehoboth resident Jack’s life – indeed his time, energy and soul – has been defined by the shore restaurant that has been in his family for three generations and bears his last name. Schmidt’s.

He holds the keys to both its front door and its loyal staff, and in the process, he has allowed the restaurant to entirely consume him, and now, in his early fifties, he realizes what he has been robbed of in the bargain – love and companionship and maybe a family of his own. A dining hospitality group is hot on Jack’s trail to purchase Schmidt’s and add it to its DNA tail of other once family owned restaurants it now operates along the Delaware coast, but the question that pounds away at Jack is this: Who am I without the very entity that has defined me?

University of Delaware professor Ethan Joella is the author of three novels.

Thus begins The Same Bright Stars, the third and latest novel from Joella, a Rehoboth resident and University of Delaware professor, which was published last July (Scribner) and has received stellar praise for the author’s depiction of the novel’s characters, the tender mercies of a family’s legacy and a man’s struggle to define himself. In addition to great reviews, the novel was named as one of People Magazine’s most anticipated reads of the summer and Good Housekeeping’s top book for this past August.

“I have been hearing from readers in Delaware and beyond about how much they connected with the book,” said Joella, who lives with his wife and two daughters – 16 and 20, respectively – about a mile-and-a-half from Rehoboth Beach. “I like the fact that even if they are not familiar with Rehoboth, they tell me that the sense of place reminds them of Cape Cod or the Jersey Shore or Lake Michigan. While it makes a book more special if the reader knows the area where the novel takes place, it’s not crucial to be aware of the area.”

Between his obligations as an English and psychology professor at the University of Delaware and his other work

Courtesy photo

specializing community writing workshops and online instruction, Joella has carved out time to publish two other novels over the past four years that have reviewers applauding Joella for his ability to merge the human condition against the hardscrabble familiarity of place.

His second novel, A Quiet Life, published in 2022

by Scribner, takes place in his native Northeastern Pennsylvania, where communities linked by blue highways take collective shelter against harsh winters. It is the story of Chuck Ayers, who mourns the loss of his wife, Cat and is torn between whether to make the trip to Hilton Head this winter without her.

“My wife and I were walking on the boardwalk at Rehoboth Beach, and we overheard a conversation of a few older men,” Joella said. “I heard one man telling the others that ever since his wife died, he didn’t want to make the trip to Florida alone. I breathed that in and thought that this would be the basis for my next book – about a man who has wintered with his wife for years and now has to make the trip without her.”

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Ethan Joella Continued from Page 11

Browseabout Books Joella’s is not the life of a full-time writer but one where writing is relegated to patches of time; in his case, the hours between his classes and grading obligations. For the past several years, he has written his novels at a time well before his family rises, where during a perfect sitting he can compose as many as four pages.

“Writing for me is like circling the airport, and I don’t necessarily need to have absolute quiet,” he said. “I keep feeling guilty until something gets done, whether it’s four pages or even a single page. Sometimes it happens late in the afternoon, and sometimes it happens at eleven-thirty at night, but I keep hounding myself, and sometimes it doesn’t happen at all, and I just have to forgive myself and get back on that horse the next day.”

The derivation of every writer’s craft is tainted liberally with the brushstroke influence of his or her youth. Dickens had the teeming alleyways of London. Hemingway had the hills of Michigan. Fitzgerald had the isolation of St.

Paul and Joyce had the cobblestone streets of Dublin. For Joella, his writing journey began in Pen Argyl, a town of 4,000 that is wedged between the Poconos and Allentown in northeastern Pennsylvania.

In the early 1980s, Joella’s parents purchased a beach house in Rehoboth, and it was there during family vacations that the course of his life began to dramatically tilt in the direction of the writing world.

“Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach was my first exposure to authors and books,” he said. “There was this elevated platform that would take me to the young readers books section, where I started to read authors like Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary. I would never say that our parents spoiled my siblings and me, but they spoiled us with books, and if we finished one while in Rehoboth, they encouraged us to get another.”

Inspired in part by what he was beginning to read, Joella began writing poetry and short stories – even a rejected script for the TV show “Growing Pains” when he was in the fifth grade – and by the time he reached his late teenage

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years at Muhlenberg College, he was absorbed by the works of Alice Walker, John Cheever, Michael Chabon and Anne Tyler he began to read in the Norton Anthology of Short Stories. During a fiction writing seminar in his sophomore year, he attended a public reading event with the Korean American author Chang-Rae Lee, whose first novel Native Speaker in 1995 rocketed him into the literary spotlight.

“I didn’t know much about public readings and author events at the time, but I just remember thinking that is exactly what I would like to be doing,” he said. “I want to be up on a stage reading my work to an audience. I would like to answer questions about my work. I would like people to read my writing and see how it resonated with their own lives.

“I was 19 at the time, and I began to see that path. I thought that maybe by the time I graduate college I will have my first book published so I wouldn’t have to worry about a career.”

Continued on Page 14 Courtesy image

The Same Bright Stars, Joella’s most current novel, was published in 2024.

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Ethan Joella Continued from Page 13

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Inspired by Lee’s visit to Muhlenberg, Joella took his first cracks at novel writing, tapping away at his Smith Corona and polishing his early craft, but as it does with every writer, the pursuit of other destinies intervened. He began his teaching career at 21, acquired several graduate degrees, married his wife, Rebecca, saw the birth of his two daughters and started teaching at the University of Delaware in 2014.

His gift of imagination, however – of inventing stories from overheard conversations and inanimate things – never slept, and little did he know that the inspiration for what became his first novel came from one of the most important people in his life.

‘I discovered that grief is about surviving’ In March of 2015, Joella’s mother-in-law Ann was diagnosed with leukemia and passed away in January of 2016.

“When she was diagnosed, I looked at my wife and her sister and I thought, ‘There’s no way they can lose their mom. It’s impossible,’” he said. “When she passed, I experienced this strange dichotomy. We were in a New York City hospital and as we left, we found that the world was still moving. People were catching cabs and stepping into restaurants, and we came back home and we were still expected to cook dinner and pay the bills.

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Ethan Joella Continued from Page 14

“I discovered grief is about surviving, of still being able to move on.”

In the fall of 2016, he began what became his first novel and in 2021 at the age of 44, he published A Little Hope, a sweeping story that follows the residents of an idyllic Connecticut town over the course of a year as they confront everyday desires and fears: a lost love, a stalled career, an illness, and a betrayal. One character – Greg Tyler – is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer and over that year, he sees the once-unbroken power of his life slowly evaporate.

Writing A Little Hope gave Joella a lesson that all writers eventually gratefully accept as a gift: that the sadness and fragility of our life’s experience can be a transferable and permanent imprint; that writing is a way of continuing to honor loved ones when they are gone.

The novel earned rave reviews.

“Immersive and illuminating,” wrote Booklist.

“A quietly powerful portrait of small-town life…told with wisdom and tenderness,” wrote author Mary Beth Keane.

Continued on Page 18 Courtesy image

A Little Hope, published in 2021, is set in a small Connecticut town and tells the stories of its residents who face everyday fears and desires.

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Ethan Joella Continued from Page 16

“Forgiveness and redemption are the soul of this novel, but it’s the love you will remember long after you put it down,” wrote author Adriana Trigiani.

“Poignant and quietly powerful...Joella is particularly deft at deconstructing quiet moments in small-town life and amplifying their significance... more than a tad hopeful,” wrote the New York Times Book Review.

After spending several years writing in the quiet of his Rehoboth home, Joella suddenly went from literary anonymity to having his book mentioned on “The Today Show.”

Joella is now at work on his newest novel, as part of a two-book deal with Scribner - a novel he has been writing since 2021. There are no spotlights, no journalists, no interviews and no publicity agents in the privacy of a writer’s space. It is a catacomb of thoughts and paper scrap ideas, inky notebooks, deleted paragraphs and magnified bouts of self-doubt.

“Readers get to see our finished version - our best intentions where everything is smooth and flows - but

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they don’t see all of the struggles we as writers go through in order to get there,” he said. “I have easily thrown away a dozen attempted novels over the past several years, because a character doesn’t come across the right way, and I realize that I cannot work with them.

“But I keep returning to the belief that writing is about achieving some sense of communal understanding that’s about making connections. It took me several years to know that not everyone can create characters. There are so few things I am good at, so I love that I can create a world that wasn’t there before. Writing is about getting across to readers the truth that they are not alone. In small ways, writers do try to change the world.”

To learn more about Ethan Joella, visit www.ethanjoellawriter.com.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@ chestercounty.com.

www.newarklifemagazine.com | Spring/Summer 2025 | Newark Life

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|Around Newark|

At UD, a theatr healthcare

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atrical twist for re training

By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer A simple, five-word question (“Could you send me actors?”) has led to a unique multidisciplinary and accredited educational program at the University of Delaware.

The question came from Amy Cowperthwait, then the nursing skills and simulation lab coordinator, to Allan Carlsen, an assistant theatre professor. She wanted to improve upon simulations to train healthcare professionals, involving mannikins and people trained as standardized patients to consistently behave and respond to questions during the simulations. The result: Healthcare Theatre.

“The standardized patient may be prepared for 15 questions, but we can’t write a script” for the much more realistic scenarios created at and for UD, Carlsen said. “It has to be improv.”

One of the simplest of the 200 to 300 scenarios involves the anxiety of a patient with a sexually transmitted disease. One of the more complicated, played out during a recent interview at UD’s STAR campus, features four stages of care for a child with cerebral palsy, a feeding tube and a stomach ache. The students must “pay attention” to all that’s going on, said Javonte Perry, the program coordinator.

Continued on Page 22

All photos by Ashley Barnas Larrimore, courtesy of University of Delaware Healthcare Theatre

Some spaces used by the University of Delaware Healthcare Theatre feature immersion walls, which are banks of monitors to display videos or simulated settings as dramatic as a burning building. www.newarklifemagazine.com | Spring/Summer 2025 | Newark Life

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Healthcare Theatre Continued from Page 21

Healthcare Theatre has grown since its 2009 creation from just one class to multiple classes. In 2023, it also became a minor, with those students taking three core courses (an introductory course, an advanced course and an internship) and two other classes, from a selection in animal and food sciences, business administration, communication, leadership, nursing and theatre.

It has grown to encompass a dozen spaces at McDowell Hall, UD’s main nursing building, and the Science, Technology and Advanced Research Campus. The spaces can be customized with mannikins (the most advanced can speak from typed text, bleed and do other life-like things, said James Burget, a simulation operations specialist), technical equipment, virtual backgrounds and stuffed animals (which may represent pets or may be a child’s treasures) to become an apartment, an emergency room, a maternity facility, labs and hospital rooms.

“You name it,” said Carlsen, “and we can make it into it.”

Continued on Page 24

Allan Carlsen (left), an assistant theatre professor, co-founded Healthcare Theatre. Heather Mekulski (right) is being groomed to be his successor as director of the program.

The control room of this maternity simulation shows the action in a one-way mirror, with two camera feeds and space for multiple vital signs in a monitor.

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Healthcare Theatre Continued from Page 22

Training and performing A dozen or so other universities have reached out to UD about starting similar programs, but so far none has, Carlsen said.

“You have to find a champion in the theatre department,” he explained.

They also have to embrace an “interprofessional education,” the program homepage says, spelling “theatre” with the ℞ symbol used for prescriptions. “The mission of Healthcare Theatre is to combine the science of healthcare with the art of communication by creating live, standardized encounters.”

At UD, 443 students have taken the introductory course.

In three weeks, they are taught how to be a standardized patient, learning the background for certain scenarios, answers to typical questions and how to improvise for whatever happens. For the rest of the semester, they commit to 30 to 32 hours of portraying a standardized patient.

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The woman in the hospital bed has been trained as a standardized patient to improvisationally handle a scenario on nutrition counseling.

After the course ends, they can be hired – at $40 per performance hour – for more simulations. Over the years, the program has built a bank of dozens of performers of varying

ages, ethnicities, genders, religions and other attributes that contribute to more realistic scenarios. People are diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, for instance, at an average age of 60.

The program has contracts with 18 outside organizations, such as Nemours Children’s Health, the Veterans Administration and Sean’s House, the downtown Newark mental health safe haven. It involves students from five of UD’s 10 colleges and schools, but 90 to 95 percent of the students in that first course are going into healthcare. By getting the perspective of being in the hospital bed, “you’ll be a better communicator,” doctors who were UD undergraduates have told Carlsen.

The program has also handled scenarios involving UD’s facilities staff on safety and for physical therapy students in court cases.

Continued on Page 26

Healthcare Theatre has developed or been contracted to present 200 to 300 scenarios, including one on Parkinson’s disease.

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Healthcare Theatre Continued from Page 25

Code Bravo, if needed Kate Bergwall, a doctoral student in educational statistics and research methods, took a Healthcare Theatre course because she has “a love of theatre.”

“It’s a breath of fresh air instead of being in front of a computer, and it helps me to be more confident professionally,” she said.

Bergwall portrayed the mother of the patient who has a stomach ache with two students in the room with her for the scenario, and five more watching. After the first two stages, she debriefed them, in language couched in the third person to focus on her feelings. She said she felt frustrated by their using jargon, supported by their discussing financial options, offended by their laughter and valued for being heard.

Continued on Page 28

This advanced manikin does lots of things, including speaking, with the help of some computerized words or more likely with someone in the control room using a microphone.

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Healthcare Theatre Continued from Page 26

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“When I direct, I don’t tell actors it was good or bad,” Carlsen explained about the debrief, which must be twice as long as the scenario. A pre-brief is not timed. Those pre-briefs and debriefs simulate the sharing of information during shift changes at hospitals.

The setups have been designed as safe spaces, with a sign taped to the wall inviting participants to call out “Code Bravo” if they faint (yes, that’s happened) or have other negative reactions.

Healthcare Theatre “is a safe haven to mess up in,” said Alexis Zitofsky, a junior nursing major, also acknowledging that the scenarios can be “nerve-wracking.” That assessment has been confirmed by measuring participants’ levels

of cortisol, a hormone that plays a crucial role in stress response.

Nursing students devote 30 to 40 hours to simulations, Carlsen said, noting the stat came from his two daughters, Olivia Bryde and Andrea Taylor, who are both UD nursing alumnae.

They and their brother Allan also helped out portraying patients as he was developing the program, and they also helped in an unexpected way for the program’s future.

They were classmates at St. Mark’s High School of Heather Mekulski, who Carlsen recruited to take the program’s introductory class and now, as program manager, is being groomed to take it over when Carlsen retires.

Carlsen (standing) co-founded Healthcare Theatre in 2009 with Amy Cowperthwait, a UD alumna who was then the nursing skills and simulation lab coordinator.

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|Newark Life Health & Science|

Real-world lesson via wearable

By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer The world’s only fully automated, wearable birthing simulator is one of the coolest things made in Delaware, according to a 2024 Delaware State Chamber of Commerce contest.

The fake blood and mucous are pretty cool, too.

So are other simulated body parts – worn by people trained as standardized patients – made to teach nursing students, EMTs and others in healthcare.

They’re all from Avkin, a Newport company founded by Amy Cowperthwait and Amy Erol, with market demand and technology behind the products based upon their studies and work at the University of Delaware, and significantly incubated by the University’s Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships, as well as the Delaware Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

“I’m kind of the visionary and the educator, and she’s more of the engineer. She’s the one who really helped us create the products,” Cowperthwait said of Erol, noting one huge issue is how “electronics and fluids don’t mix.”

They now share ownership with investor John Martinson of Martinson Ventures.

Continued on Page 32

All photos courtesy of Avkin

Amy Cowperthwait (left) is the CEO of Avkin, a Delaware company that makes wearable simulators to train nursing students, EMTs and other people in healthcare.

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ons in healthcare, ble simulators

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Avkin

Continued from Page 30

Here’s an example of that challenge involving the Avtrach, for tracheostomy. The team wanted to place a sensor on a part of the trachea called the carina to cue the patient to respond appropriately. They also wanted to incorporate mucus to enhance realism. However, early on, engineering consultants suggested that it couldn’t be done.

The breakthrough involved using a small, condom-like covering for the sensor area. This blocked fluidics while still allowing enough pressure to be applied to activate the sensor. This innovation made for a realistic and functional airway training experience.

Continued on Page 34

Cowperthwait with the Avtrach, a device to teach about tracheostomy care, at the International Meeting on Simulation in Healthcare 2024.

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Avkin |Newark Life| Continued from Page 32

Avkin’s origin story The modern use of life-like mannequins, simulators and actors portraying patient encounters dates back to the 1960s, according to the Husson College of Health and Pharmacy.

So what simulations did Cowperthwait encounter when she started studying nursing at UD in the 1980s?

“None,” she said, explaining that “the only thing that I ever remember learning not on a patient” was learning how to inject herself with a needle so that she could teach a diabetic to do so.

Continued on Page 36 Delba Maryl Silie, a supply chain specialist at Avkin, with an Avthor, which simulates working with a chest tube.

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Avkin

Continued from Page 34

Avkin launched in 2016 and has averaged a 20 percent annual growth rate, now employing 32 full-time equivalents, including all four of Cowperthwait’s children - Adam as director of sales, Josiah as as a solutions consultant, Megan Weldon as director of marketing and education and Bethany McGonigle as standardized patient coordinator.

Cowperthwait said she started to think about its products while teaching at UD and one day providing the mannequin’s voice in a tracheostomy simulation.

“The students walked in and said to the mannequin, ‘Hi, Mr. Jones. What is your date of birth?’” Cowperthwait said. “I did not respond to them, as tracheostomy patients are typically nonverbal. The students looked at the lifeless manikin, said ‘Oh my goodness, he’s dead!’ and began chest compressions.”

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The Avline is a device to teach central venous care.

Newark Life | Spring/Summer 2025 | www.newarklifemagazine.com

Cowperthwait (left) demonstrates the Avtrach in a television appearance with Dr. Mehmet Oz (second from right) with a standardized patient (Megan Weldon, Avkin’s director of education and marketing) as entrepreneur Daymond John (right) looks on.

Ask about public water treatment options.

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Avkin

Continued from Page 36

While watching the students try to save the mannequin, Cowperthwait sat in the control room wondering how they got to chest compressions when the patient just needed to be suctioned. Realizing that a human element was needed to properly educate her students, she started thinking of an overlay that someone could wear to give appropriate, real-life responses.

The Avkin name is based on the words “akin” and “vera” (the Latin word for truth). The goal is to make products as real as possible, based on human physiology, with sensors inside for reactions.

Avkin makes eight simulators: the Avbirth, its newest product, lauded in the chamber survey and also used on the Netflix show “Jack Whitehall: Fatherhood With My Father”; the Avtrach for tracheostomy; the Avthor for chest tubes; the Avtone, the world’s only wearable simulator for listening to the heart and lung; the Avstick, which vibrates the patient when the IV needle pierces its smart skin; the Avline for central venous care; the Avwound for pressure wounds; and the Avcath for urinary catheterization, with interchangeable genitalia. The Avband is like a smartwatch, enabling inconspicuous communication between control room, patient and simulators.

Standardized patients, simulation technicians Avkin also makes amniotic fluid, blood clots, exudate (a fluid that leaks out of blood vessels), placentas, umbilical cords, urine, veins and vernix (a waxy substance coating the skin of newborns).

With mannequins, “I felt as though the students were only getting a partial picture of what they were going to see in the hospital, and not so great and not so realistic,” Cowperthwait said, referring also to the concept of standardized patients, who are taught to act like patients with specific conditions.

McGonigle, in an Avkin blog, compares being a standardized patient with improv. “There are no specific lines given like there would be with a script because there is no way to anticipate exactly what the health professions students will do or say at any given time.”

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Avkin

Continued from Page 38

Avkin products further increase the reality, and every few years, they upgrade their products, just like tech companies upgrade hardware and software. Similarly, users need to replace their simulators every few years, due to wear and tear. The increasing popularity of simulation products has created a new job of simulation technicians who maintain them.

“I’m the world’s most least likely CEO, because I didn’t have aspirations to start a company or be in business,” Cowperthwait said. “I just did it because I felt very passionate about getting these products out.”

Jesus Garcia-Reyes, a quality control associate at Avkin, with the Avthor, which simulates working with a chest tube.

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2025 UPCOMING EVENTS Spring Concert Series Every Thursday May 1 - June 5 2025, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM Academy Building Lawn

Newark Memorial Day Ceremony May 18, 2025, 1:00 PM @ Ceremony on the UD Green - Parade on Main St

4th of July Fireworks July 4, 2025, 6:00 PM–10:00 PM U of D Athletics Complex (896)

National Night Out August 5, 2025, 6:00 PM–8:00 PM Newark Police Department, University of Delaware Police Department and Aetna Hose, Hook and Ladder Company will host the annual event in Downtown Newark to promote police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie.

Community Day September 21, 2025, 11:00 AM– 4:00 PM, Annual Fall Festival Newark Parks and Recreation On the Green in Newark

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Inspiration awaits at the 2025 Newark

Garden Tour

Courtesy photos

The 2025 Newark Garden Tour features local gardens, artwork, food trucks, and a farmer’s market.

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Every year, gardeners in and around Newark open their yards to visitors, inspiring all who come to experience the the natural beauty of the gardens.

On Saturday, May 10, explore seven private gardens filled with fresh spring flowers, inviting paths, and enchanting artwork. The 2025 Newark Garden Tour, sponsored by the Newark Arts Alliance, features local gardens, artwork, food trucks, and a farmer’s market. Come delight your senses and immerse yourself in Newark’s vibrant community of gardeners, artists, and musicians.

The Newark Garden Tour takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

This year, the theme of the Newark Garden Tour is Nurturing Early Bloomers and it is celebrating early blooms and new beginnings. By offering the 2025 garden tour a little earlier in the year than usual, spring bloomers like azaleas, daffodils, hellebores, and strawberries will take center stage.

Focused in central Newark, the seven gardens offer a variety of garden experiences: wooded paths, a hügelkultur vegetable and fruit garden, a garden designed to take advantage of both excess water flow as well as drought conditions, a meditation garden, and even a family of vultures.

The event is a perfect time to pick up a gift for the nurturer in your life—either at the tour itself or from the wide variety of art for sale at the Arts Alliance.

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There will be fun for all ages at this year’s Newark Garden Tour on May 10.

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2025 Newark Garden Tour Continued from Page 42

Courtesy photo

Come delight your senses and immerse yourself in Newark’s vibrant community of gardeners, artists, and musicians.

There will also be an auction of hand-painted, sewn, and appliqued garden flags that are being donated by Newark Arts Alliance artists. Visit the auction online or at the Newark Arts Alliance storefront in the Shoppes at Louviers.

In addition to bountiful flowers, music, art, and food, the 2025 Newark Garden Tour includes several special offerings this year.

Dr. Milton Muldrow, the director of natural sciences programs for Wilmington University, will present “The Experimental Nursery,” a talk that will explore the topic of hardy food perennials in a variety of environments. The talk will be on June 18 at 6 p.m., with the location still to be determined.

There will also be a “Beauty and Bounty of Gardens” exhibit on display in the gallery at the Newark Arts Alliance. The exhibit is on display through May 17 during regular Newark Arts Alliance hours.

Visit www.newarkartsalliance.org/newark-garden-tour/ for updated information or to purchase tickets, or send an email to gardentour@newarkartsalliance.org with any questions.

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|Newark Life Photo Essay|

Photos by Jim Coarse | Text by Richard L. Gaw

‘The seeds that you plant’ At Las Américas ASPIRA Academy in Newark, inspired by the school’s mission, students are already preparing for a lifetime of helping others Continued on Page 48

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Continued from Page 47

What is the sound of helping others?

At Las Américas ASPIRA Academy in Newark, it is heard in the chorus of students working with teachers, administrators and the entire school community to make a better and more inclusive life for everyone, beginning in Delaware and extending to the farthest reaches of the world.

It is heard in the pitch-perfect voices of young people who absorb the vision of the school that sees them as future biliterate influencers and decision makers and use it to realize their potential and create positive impact.

It is heard in the faint whisper and the ultimate roar when career pathways begin to be forged through a diverse curriculum that prepares them for the wider world: in public and community

health, as future teachers, as leaders in business and information management and computer science, and as culture makers in the visual and performing arts.

From the time it first opened its doors in August 2011 with just over 300 students in kindergarten through the fifth grade to the nearly 1,400 students it now teaches in its elementary, middle and high schools, ASPIRA has committed to combining its educational principles with a culture of caring.

“The beginning of ASPIRA dates back 60+years, and it has fundamentally always been about building youth leadership and inspiring them to give back,” said CEO Margie López Waite. “At both campuses, we have Continued on Page 50

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|Newark Life Photo Essay| Continued from Page 48

different activities and programs that remind the students about giving back to the community. At the East campus, we have Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a culminating unit that is integrated across grade levels and content areas – in math, social studies and English Language Arts.

“For our first-grade students, we support Heifer International, where they raise money to help countries in need to purchase livestock in order to provide sustainable food security. We partner with the Food Bank of Delaware on food drives. We have the Giving Tree, which provides an opportunity for the community to help others in need during the holiday season. Our schools support efforts to fight Down Syndrome and Autism Awareness.

Throughout the school year, our teachers are encouraged to find different causes for their students to become involved in.”

The Las Américas ASPIRA Academy Family Resource Center, established in August 2017, created a welcoming and engaging environment for students and their families. It aspires to provide access to relevant and timely information about resources and programs to support the school’s families and in turn ensure the academic success of all students.

“In education, the seeds that you plant don’t immediately allow you to reap the benefits until several years down the road,” López Waite said, “but we are already beginning to see the impact that our schools have had on our Aspirantes (students from ASPIRA schools), and the impact our Aspirantes have already made on the world they live in.”

To learn more about Las Américas ASPIRA Academy, visit www.aspiraacademy.org.

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|Newark Life| |Newark Life Q & A|

Pamela Draper,

executive director, the Newark Arts Alliance After many years in downtown Newark, the Newark Arts Alliance moved to the Shoppes at Louviers last year, bringing that same quality of classes, public events and ingenuity to new students and audiences. Recently, Newark Life met with its Executive Director Pamela Draper to discuss the Alliance’s new home, its popular Camp Imagine, the future of funding for the arts and Pamela’s very special dinner party.

Your new location is located halfway between Pike Creek and Hockessin and downtown Newark. How has your new location stimulated attention and attendance from members, students, artists and the general public?

The relocation has been a wonderful upgrade for us and we’re so grateful to have found a final home after a lot of searching. We have seen a great increase in our attendance, mostly at our recurring programs, which has become a new subcommunity of the Alliance and we see that people are really investing in that. We also have a lot more foot traffic and that is growing in a beautiful way. People were concerned for us about moving from downtown Newark, but our old location, while we loved it, was slightly tucked away from Main Street. Because of our new location, we Newark Arts Alliance Executive Director Pamela Draper.

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have many visitors who are shopping at other stores in the Shoppes at Louviers and stopping in to see us.

A run through your class schedule for this Spring reveals a wide variety of opportunities to develop one’s drawing skills, from contour illustration to comic book illustration, and much more. How are classes at the Newark Arts Alliance ultimately chosen to be offered?

Our education committee was one of the things I made sure to incorporate when I took the executive director position, in order to provide structure and community engagement. The committee is made up of wonderful people who are invested in seeing the Newark Arts Alliance as a resource not just for students but for people who want to be teaching artists. One of our strengths is that we work with people who have been in their respective fields for a long time, and we say to them, ‘You have a beautiful art form. Would you like to learn how to teach it?’

Classes are ultimately chosen by the committee and me, and we’ve had a nice experience of developing relationships with new students and new teachers as a result of these classes.

Continued on Page 54 Photo by Richard L. Gaw

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Newark Life Q & A Continued from Page 52

For the past 27 years, Camp Imagine has introduced thousands of young people to the limitless creativity of their mind. This camp serves as an incubator of ideas, artistic development and confidence, yes?

My background is in music therapy, so I am very familiar with the way the arts help develop social, physical and motor skills. Camp Imagine is enriched by our students’ ability to do creative things on their own terms, in an improvisatory setting, and that is what this camp thrives on. We have projects, but the camp allows the kids the chance to play and have fun.

While it is a thrill to see kids come back here year after year, my biggest thrill is when my campers become interns.

We work with up to six high school interns at every camp.

Photos by Laura Oliver

With its wide catalog of classes, the Newark Arts Alliance continues to inspire creativity in the hundreds of students who attend courses there every year.

In what ways has the Alliance sought out other funding sources during a time when the entire future of the arts education funding in America is under scrutiny?

The Delaware Division of the Arts provides major funding for the Newark Arts Alliance. We are closely in contact with them about changes that may be coming down the pike, and everyone’s feathers are certainly ruffled about this! We have always placed our strongest hopes in our amazing community of local supporters and are ramping up our fundraising efforts, which heavily depend on our minimal staff time. Overall, we are ready to meet whatever challenges may come!

Continued on Page 56

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Newark Life Q & A Continued from Page 54

What are your happiest moments at the Newark Arts Alliance? Take the readers of Newark Life on a visual tour of those moments.

One of my happiest moments was our grand opening party at our new location at the Shoppes at Louviers. We pulled out all the stops that night and really had a chance to celebrate all that the Newark Arts Alliance has come to mean to the greater Newark community: a place to shine, to be inspired, and to connect. In many ways we were also celebrating the legacy of our outgoing Executive Director Terry Foreman, whose influence and guidance will be felt in our organization for decades to come. In spite of the intimate size of our new home, the grand opening party had over 300 guests. We dined, danced and carried on until late in the night. Lelane Rossouw-Bancroft, one of our core art-

ists/volunteers, created an incredible four-tiered cake that featured an incredible array of artistic styles, and she even made a layer that was gluten-free!

What is your favorite spot in Newark?

I love Days of Knights because I am a board game nerd.

I also love thrift shopping at the Goodwill in the Newark Shopping Center.

Continued on Page 58

In addition to its extensive course list, the Newark Arts Alliance frequently hosts gallery exhibit openings and musical events throughout the year.

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Newark Life Q & A Continued from Page 56

You throw a dinner party and can invite anyone – living or not, famous or not. Who would you like to see around that dining room table?

Writer Audre Lorde, writer Adrienne Maree Brown, singer Nina Simone, poet Joy Harjo and Carol Post, who is the vice president of our board.

What food or beverage can always be found in your refrigerator?

Miso paste! I love making miso soup for breakfast.

The Newark Arts Alliance is located at 207 Louviers Drive, Newark, and is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., and on Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. To learn more about classes, camps and special events, call (302) 266-7266 or visit www.newarkartsalliance. org. ~ Richard L. Gaw

The Alliance’s Camp Imagine has introduced thousands of young people to the limitless creativity of their mind.

We encourage local organizations, schools, civic and fraternal groups and churches to submit news releases.

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Calendar of Events 60

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Saturday, May 10 2025 spring tree giveaway 8 a.m. - 11 a.m. at Hillside Park The 2025 Spring Tree & Shrub Giveaway will be held on Saturday, May 10 from 8 a.m. - 11 a.m. at Hillside Park, located at 151 Forest Lane. Registration is required at www.newarkde.gov/play. Pre-registration is required.

Spring plant offerings include Eastern Redbud, Common Witch Hazel, Red Sunset Red Maple, Southern Magnolia (Bracken’s Beauty), Sweet Bay Magnolia, and Tulip Poplar.

• This event is only for Newark residents.

• Residents can register for a maximum of one plant per household.

• Registration is complete once you receive an email receipt.

• Registrants will be assigned a specific time to pick up their plant during the hours of the event.

The plant giveaway online registration is first come, first serve. This event will be hosted rain or shine. All plants must be picked up at the designated time on May 10. The goal of the tree and plant giveaway is to promote a healthier environment and wildlife habitat, and to improve the appearance of the built environment. It is sponsored by the Conservation Advisory Committee.

Sunday, May 18 Memorial Day Ceremony and Parade 1:30 p.m. Ceremony 2 p.m. Parade on Main Street The Newark Memorial Day Parade is an annual event that is held the third Sunday in May. During this annual event, veterans of wars from all branches of service have continued to march in the parade. To start the day, a ceremony honoring our nation’s veterans will be held on the University of Delaware’s Campus Green at Memorial Hall followed by the parade on Main Street.

Continued on Page 62

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Newark Calendar of Events Continued from Page 61

Now through June 5 Newark Spring Concert Series Every Thursday from 7 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Spring is in the air, and everyone is ready to get outdoors with the 2025 Newark Spring Concert Series. Concerts will be held Thursday nights from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. starting at the beginning of May and running through June 5.

Grab a bite to eat, do some shopping on Main Street then join in for a musical journey on the Academy Building lawn.

Here is the full schedule for the upcoming spring concert series performances: · May 15 - Dan & Dan Band · May 22 - The Honey Badgers · May 29 - Dos Hombres · June 5 - Dirk Schwenk & The Truth Parking fees are in effect downtown during the concerts. Please call the Leisure Time Hotline at 302-366-7147 on rainy days for updates.

For more information, please contact the Recreation Office at 302-366-7000 or visit www.newarkde.gov/play.

Friday, July 4, 6 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Liberty Day and Fireworks

The Liberty Day and Fireworks celebration will take place from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday, July 4. The location is the UD Athletic Complex, 631 S College Avenue, Newark.

July 28 to August 8 Camp Imagine

The Newark Arts Alliance will again be offering Camp Imagine, a full-day arts camp for children ages 7-12. Campers engage in visual and performing arts which includes art, theater, a capella singing and dance.

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