After School

Arts Fest: Thoroughly Obsessed

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Arts Fest postcardGreen Street’s Annual Arts Festival is something I, and all of Green Street’s friends, look forward to each year.  This year’s Arts Fest will take place on Saturday, June 12 and is sure to be an afternoon filled with creativity, excitement, food, and fun.  ArtsFest is a great way for our students to showcase their hard work and successes throughout the year, and for the community to join us and participate in the fun as well.

This year features performances from Fresh Obsessed

Salsa Dancers
Salsa Dancers Arts Fest '09

breakdancing crew, ThoroEnergy hip hop crew, salsa students, and music classes.  I am especially excited for the West African Djembe Orchestra- a diverse group of people ages 7 to 57 from the After School program, adult class, and Cromwell Children’s Home residency program who will be performing together.  With the strong lead of teachers Jocelyn and Aaron, the group will rock out the beats of Lamban, Makru, and Yankadi.

For the first time, our outside attractions will include delicious food from partners in our membership program.  We are pleased to welcome Esca Restaurant & Wine Bar, Iguanas Ranas Taqueria, Jerry’s Pizza, Broad Street Books, and DeFabrica Therapeutic Massage to the festivities.

Painting Green Street
Facepainting Arts Fest '09

While enjoying live performances and great food, you will also be able to meander through the building to view the artwork, stop by a classroom for a free mini-class in Salsa or visual arts.  You can enter a raffle to win a free Green Street class or even plants from Starlight Gardens in Durham.  Don’t miss out on a chance to sign up for Summer classes right on the spot.

In addition to this scintillating array of amusements, mural artist Marela Zacarias will begin painting the new mural, designed by Green Street students, across the street at St. Vincent dePaul’s Place. All community members are welcome and encouraged to help out.

By the way, have I mentioned that all of this is free?  It is!  I hope to see you there!

Green Street Arts Festival & Open House
Saturday, June 12, 2010
1-3pm
FREE
51 Green Street, Middletown, CT 06457
www.greenstreetartscenter.org

Submitted by Rachel Roccoberton Griffin, Administrative Assistant

Volunteering at Green Street as a Vocation

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Jean & Biff offer snacks.

It wasn’t meant to be that way.

In 2005, Jean started volunteering at the after school program. At first thejob entailed helping with the snacks that are given to the children when they arrive, followed by assisting with the homework assignments. The hardest part was adjusting to the confusion, as 40-50 lively students hopped off the bus and were eager to begin another afternoon program at Green Street.  Anything beyond fourth grade mathematics was a challenge as they don’t teach it the way the Shaws were taught. After the dust settled (thanks to Cookie’s handling of the initial chaos… a distinctive and ever-present voice) things went more smoothly. The most rewarding part of this venture was making new friends and watching as the students grew and began to work together. Just a “please” or “thank you” was a big reward.

Reaching for "the regular."

It was in the fall of 2006 that Biff started to hang out with Jean … just to see what it was all about.  Little did he expect that a casual drop-by would become a regular part of the weekly calendar. Helping with snack was easy and sometimes fun.  Mentoring was hard and many times just plain boggling. Reading for comprehension was a challenge and adding and subtracting using one’s fingers or checkmarks on a page is a long way from rote learning done 70 years ago.

We persevered and the kids, while baffled by our inability to understand their way of learning, were really very patient with us – sometimes more patient than we were with them or with our own frustration.

It wasn’t until 2009, when a dedicated corps of Wesleyan students and others took charge of mentoring, did we hit our stride.  Since then we have concentrated on food “service” and service it has become. Special orders are the call of the day. The old “some like it hot – some like it cold” has become our signature. We have learned who likes only peanut butter on peanut butter and jelly days, and who prefers a turkey and cheese without cheese.  The students obviously appreciate it.  They show it in many ways and if we have gained nothing more than their respect and a semblance of good manners … we feel we have achieved our goals.

As a result, it really didn’t end up so much a vocation, as a labor of love.

Submitted by Jean and Biff Shaw, After School Volunteers

Even as we begin to wrap up the After School year, Green Street still relies heavily on its volunteers!  There are a number of After School and non-After School volunteering opportunities available.  If you are interested in getting involved, or would like more information, please don’t hesitate to email us at gsac@wesleyan.edu or call us at (860) 685-7871.  We hope to hear from you soon!

Driven by a Desire to Dance

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Dancing is my life and it is something I really want to pursue as a career path.  I started dancing as soon as I could walk.  As far as I can remember I always loved watching music videos on TV and listening to music in general.  I mainly taught myself how to dance; it must run in the family because my mom loved to dance in her younger days.  I enjoyed dancing so much that I thought, “Why not get better by taking some classes?”  This is where Green Street came in.

Being at the Green Street Arts Center has helped me with my goal of dancing in many ways.  The classes and workshops that I took had hip-hop teachers that were older and more experienced in the “dance world”.  I also met choreographers that gave me advice on how to enhance my dancing skills.

In 2007, I decided to start my own dance crew called ThoroEnergy.  This

ThoroEnergy from 2009

endeavor was a major one and actually helped me get my foot in the door.  My crew consisted of about 10 people and is constantly growing and evolving.  We’ve definitely come a long way.  We have had the opportunity to perform in many places, including talent shows, festivals, parties, schools, and even appeared in a music video.  After the great exposure that has come from these opportunities, ThoroEnergy is still standing, and definitely dancing.

In addition to inspiring me to start ThoroEnergy, Green Street has also provided me with a choreography and teaching job, which involves teaching hip-hop to After School students and whoever else is interested.  This has been a help because I am getting a lot more publicity with my dancing, and meeting a lot more people who can help me on my way to reaching my goal.  I now get called to different places, such as schools and festivals to teach.  This has gotten me started on reaching my goal of dancing, but I’m definitely not finished yet.  I plan to go to a college for dance, to advance myself and hopefully into the spotlight.  I am trying everything it takes to get to where I want to be and I’m not planning on giving up.

The Youth Dance Invitational that I judged was a success.  Kids from the North End came down to battle, trying to take a trophy home.  I definitely had a good time watching the battles, and was surprised to see some really talented dancers.  Hopefully Green Street will be able to host something else like that again.

If you are interested in hip-hop or other dance classes at Green Street, visit our website at www.greenstreetartscenter.org.

Submitted by Eric Quiñones, Green Street teaching artist

Exploring Passions

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Emma performing
Emma Z. performing Sugar Plum Fairy. Photo courtesy of www.actionpic9.com.

I actually met Sarah-Jane Ripa during Orientation week at an event on Wesleyan’s campus where she was running a booth for Green Street Arts Center. I asked her about ballet classes at Green Street and she told me that none were presently offered but that she would be glad to find me a teacher so I could continue my passion for dancing. She told me that she would make it work.

I didn’t know it then, but I would be working with Sarah-Jane just three months later. Since coming to Green Street I have found it to be the kind of place that supports people following their passions. I have had the pleasure

Students working on Homework

of speaking with many of Green Street’s adult students who tell me how much they enjoyed their teacher or their class and they want to make sure to sign up for the next session. As for the kids of Green Street, it is clear in their faces. Just yesterday I worked with a child in the after school program, who quickly finished all her homework (getting all her spelling words correct) and who then wanted to color pastel pictures with me, and the day before I watched a first-grader correctly finish his math homework in 5 minutes, and then ask me for long division problems to practice for fun.

The Community Mural Project

I have spent the past year working with Sarah-Jane and the other members of the Green Street Arts Center team on various projects, helping to run events, working in the after-school program, and organizing classes. This is a group of extremely dedicated people who truly do make it work. Despite tough economic times, Green Street has remained dedicated to its students. There are so many options available to the point where you can sign up for a class or a private lesson in nearly any creative genre you could think of. You can also attend interesting events ranging from the Sunday Salons to cultural dance events to various performances by local musicians.

I think that Green Street is a place where anyone can come to express themselves and explore their passions. Sarah-Jane made the ballet class work for me and my friends and we study on Saturday mornings with a fantastic teacher.

I love coming to work at Green Street because it is my way of being active in the community I am living in. I thoroughly enjoy working with the children and adults of Green Street to share our common passion for creative expression with the Middletown community. It has affected me in a very meaningful way and because of it, Middletown, as well as each of us, is more beautiful.

Submitted by Emma Zawacki, Wesleyan Student and Green Street Worker

Green Street as seen through the eyes of After School Student Gabby M.

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Gabby and Lisa sat down one day to talk about what Green Street Arts Center means to an 11-year-old 5th grader in the After School Arts & Science program.

Learning at Green Street:

Gabby M., After School Student

I first took photojournalism because I took some pictures for my best friend’s graduation, and they came out really, really good, so I thought maybe I should take pictures when I grow up.  My mom signed me up for the class and now I’m so happy.  I’ve learned a lot.  I didn’t know how to post pictures to make a calendar, and I can do that now.  The style of the cameras is really cool; we use different kinds of digital cameras, one blue and one grey.  I have my own, so after photojournalism I can still take pictures.  My favorite subjects to photograph are people and weddings.  I want to be a wedding photographer when I grow up.

Since Marela, the mural teacher, came to talk about the mural we are about to paint, I’ve taken time to draw pictures for the design.  Now she is going to put me in the Arts & Science program that will be working on the mural.

I also learn piano with teachers David Davis and Allison House.  Even though I didn’t sign up for private lessons, they just started teaching me scales and sharps.  I know some of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, Mozart’s Sonata in C Major, the theme from Harry Potter, and I’m working on learning how to read music.

Green Street & my life:

When I first came to Green Street I didn’t know anybody, but now, 6 months

Gabby playing with angles.

later, I know everyone by heart.  The staff is really nice and helpful.  Wesleyan volunteers even help us with our homework! I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.  I’ve definitely changed since coming to Green Street.  I now get A+ on all my homework because of all of the academic help that I get.  I love it here.  I don’t have any friends at school, so I like Green Street because I’ve been making lots of friends.  My mom says I’m always smiling when I come out of Green Street.  When I’m older and finished with school, I would be proud to come back to Green Street to help with the kids as a staff member.

I just want to say thank you to Miss Cookie for letting me go to Green Street because without her I wouldn’t even be here writing this blog.

To view some pictures that Gabby took, visit our Facebook page.

Submitted by Gabby M., After School Student, with help from Lisa Bruno, Development Assistant

Teaching Artist Shawn Hill connects Healthy Eating, Creative Writing, and Technology

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Shawn Hill’s extensive web-design experience and creativity continue to expand the imaginations of kids in his animation class and adults who have taken his blogging classes.

After School students love Shawn’s animation class because it allows them to get silly with colors and images while exploring topics that interest them.  Walk into class, and you’ll see kids discussing how best to present the topic: “How can we show glaciers melting?”, “What colors will be the most vibrant to combine?”  Global Warming was the theme for projects two years ago, after which the students focused on healthy eating.  This year, kids are letting their imaginations go wild as they animate science phenomena, vividly demonstrating the splitting of an atom, magnets, the mixing of colors, and electricity.  Check out their video about eating healthy: Fruit is Fuel

The After School students in Shawn’s class will debut their exciting videos at Green Street’s Arts Fest on June 12th.

Green Street Community Members also benefit from Shawn’s knowledge of the blogging world.  Photographers, painters, individuals concerned with a social issue, or people who want to share their passion and experiences have all gathered for Shawn’s Web-Design and Blogging class.  Shawn is especially excited by the blogging world because of the wide range of topics that blogs can cover. One of the most unique topics he has assisted with was for people interested in duck-decoy carving.  As an expert in web-design, html, and many other intricate computer languages, Shawn thinks that these techniques are overly complicated for practical, every-day purposes.   Even though blogs are not “God’s gift to original aesthetic,” they work well for anyone wishing to share information on the internet.  Shawn hopes to continue to share this passion with interested community members this spring in his Blogging & Web Design Class on Wednesdays from 6:30-7:30pm.

Submitted by Noah Klein-Markman, Wesleyan University Class of ‘13

Green Street Programs and Offerings

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Green Street Street Arts Center of Wesleyan University (GSAC) offers a variety of programs for everyone! Here is a glimpse of what’s inside.

After School Students on a fieldtrip to the CT Science Center

After School Arts & Science Program – At the core of Green Street’s offerings is the After School Arts & Science Program. We have a wide array of opportunities for students in grades 1-8 to explore their creativity and develop practical skills for everyday life during after school hours. Students may enroll in a 4-day track to focus on one area of the arts, or may, with their parents, choose any combination of classes to engage in any number of the five artistic disciplines (Visual, Sound, Movement, Media, Literary) offered at Green Street. Classes are held from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM for grades 1 through 8. From 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM, Monday through Thursday, students may enroll in GSAC’s unique Academic Enrichment program. Friday programs take place at Macdonough Elementary School and represent an effort by Green Street and Macdonough to forge a closer bond between the North End neighborhood, the arts and the local youth resources.

Green Street works with the Board of Education to offer bus transportation from several public schools.  We provide a nutritious snack to students arriving before class time, engage the surrounding community through service learning projects, and give students a venue for biannual performances and displays of work. Need-based full and partial scholarships are available upon review for any student seeking to participate in Green Street’s programs.

Guests enjoying a talk with author Jamie Cat Callan.

Evening & Weekend Program – Each evening and weekend Green Street offers courses in Movement, Music, Visual, Literary and Media Arts. Classes are generally offered in five or six week sessions and open to people through out the region. These classes are great for brushing up on old skills, learning new skills, socializing and having fun.

Friday Nights – Many Friday nights feature interesting and exciting events at Green Street. From local bands like Goodnight Blue Moon and Bus Hits Bridge to film screenings of Middletown B-Boys and To Brooklyn & Back: A Mohawk Journey and even cultural performances like the Music & Dance of Bali, there is sure to be something to spice up your Friday Night!

Sunday Salons – Led by Wesleyan professors, these information discussions present new research and cutting-edge information. You are invited join the conversation in a comfortable setting. Some of our previous discussions have included Reading the Nobel Prize Winners, Race & Politics, Music & Mystique of Downtown New York, and History in Sound & Motion. Coming soon, Thinking About Pete Seeger with Rob Rosenthal, April 25th!

Community Partnerships – Green Street continues to partner with the North End Action Team (NEAT) to offer free classes to community members including Computer Basics, Foreclosure Prevention, and First Time Homeownership.

Teacher Kerry and a student.

In addition to this partnership GSAC works with the Cromwell Children’s Home, Bielfield Elementary School, Portland Park and Rec, and the Boys Club at the CT Juvenile Training School offering classes and workshops.

We continue to reach into our neighborhood working in the Erin Street Community Garden, creating murals for the neighborhood, collaborating with Oddfellows Playhouse amongst many other projects.

That is just a glimpse inside Wesleyan’s Green Street. We hope that you will come visit us soon. And check the blog regularly for interviews, information and more!