After-school arts program is free and open to all
Gabby Wright at keyboard with Scott Griffin.
“I wanted to get young kids together and build community through the arts,” said Suzanne Feltner, creator of a free, ecumenical downtown after-school arts program. Feltner also is the director of music and arts at Trinity United Church of Christ.
The program, Children’s Arts at Trinity, was started last year with children from the church, yet the plan and vision has always been that others from the community will join in the weekly sessions.
“The motto or mission statement,” Feltner said, “is to create a caring community of children through the arts.”
CAT is funded through an endowment and anonymous donors. Each Wednesday consists of four classes and a shared meal. During each section of the weekly program, creativity and daily life skills are addressed in an environment of openness and caring.
“The first session is community-building,” Feltner said.
The class focuses on caring for other people and includes life skills and crafts. Children ask themselves the question: “What am I good at and how can I help other people?”
Also on the evening’s agenda is time spent building community through dance and song. Social skills include being mindful of courtesy when choosing dance partners, taking turns, and creating a caring community for trying out movement and singing skills.
The children “encourage each other to be the best they can be,” Feltner said.
The curriculum includes not only the visual and performing arts, but also the very art of living in community with others is tackled through the experience of dining together.
“It’s fun to sit and eat together and talk about what’s going on in our lives,” Feltner said. “[They] learn the skills necessary to carry on conversations with each other.”
Feltner said the class also works in the same way for parents of the children in the program. “A lot of the parents are using that time to go out to eat and reconnect with their spouses,” she said.
Drumming is another class with a focus on creating music together. “There has been some crazy magic that we’ve made in here,” said instructor Scott Griffin, who teaches the kids in a way that cultivates creativity and makes for unexpected moments of eloquent sound. “My teaching style is to let the children create their own conception of music.”
There also is a visual arts class that emphasizes much more than creating an art project. “We have them help each other,” Feltner said. “They help clean up.”
CAT is open to children of all faiths and spiritual backgrounds. “We are trying to teach the children that the world is a big place,” Feltner said. “Not everybody is the same, looks the same or talks the same.”
The goal is to spread the word about the availability of CAT and create a diverse student population. Feltner said, “It would be great to have people of different faiths and beliefs, to have a conversation and learn more about who they are and how they believe. I want them to learn that everybody can get along if they choose to.”
The Children’s Arts at Trinity after-school program will begin Wednesday, Jan. 10. The classes will run through the school year and meet from 4:30-7 p.m. Dinner is included. Both the program and the dinner are free. Sign-up is requested prior to Jan. 6 to help provide a head count for dinner.
The program is open to students in first through sixth grade. Call for questions about older or younger siblings.
The building and the program are completely handicapped-accessible with extra staff available as needed.
Currently CAT offers two annual sessions consisting of 10 weeks in fall and 10 in winter. “My goal this year is to try to do something at least once a month in the summer too,” Feltner said.
Summer programming is still in the planning stages. For more information or to sign up, call the church office at 330-264-9250 or email Feltner at trinityuccmusic@gmail.com. Sign-ups may be accepted after the program begins.
What is the true sign of a wildly successful children’s program? Feltner shared what happens when classes are not in session. “We are on a break right now, and the kids get very sad,” she said.
Community, creativity, caring and connection generously shared through arts education, “that’s a win-win for everyone,” Feltner said. “I truly believe this is an important thing in our community. I would love to have as many children involved as we possibly could.”
The church is located at 150 E.North St.