Shirli Allen used her experiences to continue to educate.
NORWAY – On a recent spring evening, a group of promising young writers gave their first readings to a packed house.

Dressed in the somber black preferred by serious artists, they took turns sitting on a coffee table, swinging their feet while they read and being careful to show the pictures to the audience before turning the pages of their handmade books.

The writers were students at the Learning Studio, a privately owned after-school enrichment program, which provides a multiage classroom for children ages 5 to 10. The coffeehouse-style reading at the Fare Share Commons was part of Presentation Night, when the children share what they have learned with their families.

Shirli Allen created the Learning Studio two years ago.

“I was looking to keep my creative juices flowing,” she said. Having taught music at the Hebron Lower School, Allen needed a new, creative outlet when the school closed. She said she asked herself, “How can I do what I love to do the most while keeping myself creative and fresh?”

Allen had owned and operated the Growing Place Dayschool for 18 years and, although qualified to teach, after so many years of “doing my own thing, I couldn’t go back to public school.” She looked at the business world and found that it didn’t fit her, either.

“I knew of a huge need for after-school enrichment. I also knew that there was a need for enrichment for a lot of kids who were gifted and creative.”

She recognized that these were “two needs that I had the skills to meet,” and conceived the idea of the Learning Studio.

Enrollment grew by word of mouth alone, and within two months the “Studio” was at full capacity. By the end of the first year, the project had outgrown its original space. At the beginning of this school year, it moved to Main Street in Norway. The Studio now has three rooms, plus a small kitchen where children can have after-school snacks.

In February, Learning Studio students were just beginning their unit on tales, and were still excited about their last topic of study: the Impressionist artists. In the main classroom, three paintings leaned against the wall, including a copy of Mary Cassatt’s “Little Girl in a Blue Armchair,” done by a Studio student. At 5 feet high, the paintings are taller than the young artists who painted them.

What have they learned? The children ran to a book shelf and pulled down book after book about the Impressionists. Eight-year-old Ryan Fagan leafed through the pages with friends Sam Donatelli and Kelsey Robichaud. They paused occasionally to point out reflections, shadows, and uses of color favored by particular artists.

Fagan paused to look at a painting of a puppy, explaining “this puppy was given to Mary Cassatt by Edgar Degas.” He hurried back to the bookshelf and produced another book with paintings of ballerinas. “Edgar loved dancers.”

“Don’t ever call Edgar an Impressionist,” the children cautioned. “He hated that.”

In another classroom, 6-year-olds patiently copied stories they’ve written onto the school’s two computers. These stories will be printed out, cut into smaller segments, and pasted onto the illustrated pages of books that the children will bind themselves. The books will be read aloud at Presentation Night.

The students are not the only people excited about the Learning Studio. Missy Fagan, Ryan’s mother, said the program “goes above and beyond what the school district can provide.”

Rhonda Wood also has an 8-year-old son at the Learning Studio.

“Shirli Allen is a Godsend to this community,” she said. With her “talent and generosity of self, she can make any experience positive.”

Allen is simply doing what she loves. “It’s just been a hoot,” she said. “It’s joyous. It’s fun every single day.”