Jul 9, 2008

GET SMART

Summer spells C-A-M-P, even for Opera Cleveland. (But our version doesn't include making junk out of popsicle sticks and tree bark.)

No, this year Opera Cleveland is back at the arts day camp smART in the City, a program of the Cleveland Foundation. Fifth and sixth graders from Cleveland schools attend one of the eight sites around the city. Our site happens to be St. Jerome's.


Yesterday, I went there to hang out with the kids, who--of course--adored me.

I helped them create journal covers for each kid's "Passport to my Future," which is the theme of the program this summer. Then I watched them groove in the Movement portion of the day. I would have joined in, but thought it would be too distracting for them to witness my mad dancing skills. (No chicken can krump like this chicken.)


Later, in the music portion, we played "Drop the Needle." (Something Amy Winehouse should look into. Just a thought.) The name of this game is a little outdated since no one but nerdy audiophiles uses record players anymore. The instructor would play part of a CD and the kids had to guess what country the music was from.

The kids attend smART for five weeks, and at the end, there's a performance that features all that they learned. I will be there.

2 comments:

Kentucky Opera said...

Looks like a great education program. I am hopeful the drop the needle game includes a lot of opera. Five weeks is a long time for an opera summer program.

Carl said...

The kids are covering art, music, drama and dance, so it's not five straight weeks of opera. But I would love that kind of camp!