RCDS Student Honors Her School by Drawing an Architectural Sketch

One eighth grade student loved her school so much that she wanted to give back. She did so by sketching the school’s new addition.

 “I wanted to complete a big service project before I left,” explained Charlotte Scott, of Rumson. “I soon came up with the idea to create a drawing of this new addition,” she continued.

 Scott began an architectural sketch of the school’s new wing as a way to remember the transformation she witnessed firsthand. As a seventh grade student when she began her project, Scott realized she would soon prepare to leave the home she made at RCDS to move on to high school. As the addition grew over time, the once bare lot reminded her how fast time changes.

 “After I received permission from Headmaster Small, the first thing I did was take pictures of the new building from several different angles,” described Scott.

 The pictures allowed her to capture every detail of the building for her sketch that took five months to complete. She received help from RCDS art teacher Melissa Petersen who is also Head of the Art Department. Petersen provided a book on architecture to help Scott capture each feature of the new building.

“It often left me feeling pressured and frustrated, but I look back on the experience fondly because I am proud of how much effort it took,” said Scott. 

Also a student of after-school art lessons, Scott learned the challenges of taking on the project. Not only were her art skills tested, but math skills as well to ensure that the sketch was proportionate. However, she stayed determined to complete her project.

“I was really inspired by Mr. Riker,” said Scott. The new addition is named the William I. Riker Academic Center after an alumi.

Mr. Riker has been closely tied to the school for many years. He attended the school with his siblings as well as many other relatives including his mother and his three children. He was passionately dedicated to the planning and completion of the new addition for the next generation of students.

Riker passed away in May 2010 but will never be forgotten in the school community for his perseverance and love for RCDS.

“Whenever I felt like giving up, I thought of the actual building and how much harder it had been to actually construct and how Mr. Riker had kept going despite the challenges he faced,” said Scott.

“My drawing was much more than a simple piece of artwork, it exemplified the legacy that Mr. Riker left behind,” said Scott.

Scott will be continuing her education at The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut after graduating this spring as a part of the RCDS class of 2011. Her original framed sketch can be seen as it proudly hangs in “Riker Hall.” Note cards displaying the sketch can also be purchased in the school store staffed by parent volunteers, also located in Riker Hall.