By Tim Mandell
Register News Writer
RICHMOND —
Students in Madison County have the opportunity to learn to play an instrument, study dance, discover the finer points of photography or become more familiar with the essentials of art.
Fun with Arts, an after-school program sponsored by the Richmond Area Arts Council (RAAC) and Madison County Schools begins on Monday for students in first through eighth-grade.
After-school programs will be conducted at Glenn Marshall Elementary School, White Hall Elementary School, Shannon Johnson Elementary School and B. Michael Caudill Middle School.
While the program is being conducted through Madison County Schools, students who attend Model Laboratory School, St. Mark Catholic School, Berea Independent Schools, Bluegrass Christian and those in home-school are invited to participate.
Buses will transport students from Madison County Schools to one of the four hub schools.
Parents are required to provide transportation for those students not enrolled in Madison County Schools.
Fun with Arts has been in existence for about eight years, but this its second year being conducted at the schools, said Debbie Stegner, executive director of RAAC.
“It’s an extension of the arts activities that the children learn in school,” she said. “We have really good art teachers in Madison County. This is a continuation and more of a hands-on approach, and maybe sometimes we are offering things they may not offer in the schools.”
Classes offered to elementary school students include Art in Books, Clogging/Line Dancing, Cooking, Drama, Earth Matters, Guitar 1, Guitar 2, Piano Lab, Pottery, Strings 1, Strings 2 and Traveling the World with Art.
For middle school students, classes include Guitar 2, Photography, Piano Lab, Social Dance and Strings 2.
This is the first year classes will be available to middle school students.
Parents of middle school students have been calling the RAAC asking that classes be offered for their children, Stegner said.
She said also that students who participated in Fun with Arts while in elementary school are now in middle school and have expressed an interest in continuing with the program.
In addition to teachers from Madison County Schools, many classes are being taught by Eastern Kentucky University teachers, or EKU students majoring in those subjects.
“All our teachers are highly qualified in their area of expertise,” Stegner said. “It’s an excellent program for arts education.”
At 3 p.m., students will meet for a snack and supervised homework time.
Classes are 45 minutes long and instruction will run from 3:30 to 5 p.m.
Parent pick-up is from 5 to 5:15 p.m.
Tuition is based on the number of days per week a child attends class. Discounts are available for students whose tuition is paid in full or those with siblings in the program. A price schedule is available online.
To register, or for more information, visit www.artsinrichmond.org or call 624-4242.
Tim Mandell can be reached at tmandell@richmondregister.com or 623-1669 ext. 6696.
