CUYAMACA COLLEGE (Press Release) – Convincing kids to spend a month of their summer vacation concentrating on Shakespeare may seem like a tough sale, but not so when the learning involves art, music, dramatic poetry and fun activities designed to develop an early appreciation for the English bard.

And it doesn’t hurt if the instructor is everyone’s favorite English teacher, as described by online reviews on “Rate My Teacher.”

The Shakespeare Festival Project is part of College for Kids, a summer enrichment program for children ages 8 to 14 offered by the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District’s Continuing Education program. Besides Shakespeare, College for Kids is offering a series of weeklong summer day camps at Cuyamaca College featuring a wide variety of workshops in art, dance, fitness, science, media and more to help kids ward off the summer doldrums.

The Shakespeare Festival Project begins with an overview of Shakespeare and the Elizabethan era and a finale featuring either a selection of scenes, or a deconstructed version of a play. The children spend the rest of the time preparing for their performances – researching roles, memorizing parts, making scenery and props, and rehearsing. It’s led by William Roemmich and Gillian Jones, both eighth-grade English teachers who previously taught a popular summer school class in Shakespeare at Hillsdale Middle School in Rancho San Diego.

The program runs from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. every Monday through Thursday from June 27-July 21 at Cuyamaca College. The registration fee is $297.

“It isn’t a class of lecture and bookwork,” Roemmich said, adding that a team-teaching approach makes the class more dynamic and energetic. The youngsters enjoy seeing two teachers having so much fun in the classroom, he said.

First offered during the 1980s, the College for Kids program has been reconfigured and updated to include technology-related offerings such as classes in making movies using Adobe Flash animation software or photo editing with Adobe Photoshop.

“We are committed to addressing the educational needs of our community and offering fun and enriching classes during summer vacation as a great way to introduce future students to our colleges” said Chancellor Cindy L. Miles. “The classes provide a host of learning opportunities, including those in subject areas which may spark an interest in a future career.”

The College for Kids workshops include:

• Basketball camp, sponsored by the men’s basketball office at Cuyamaca College and directed by head coach Rob Wojtkowski. Three weeklong camps are offered from 9 a.m. to noon July 18-Aug. 11 for fourth – to ninth-graders for $79 per week.
• “En Garde, Ready: Fence” is the only class taught off-site. Four morning or afternoon sections are offered July 11-21 at the Lion Heart Fencing Academy in La Mesa for a fee of $80 per week.
• The origin and culture of hip-hop dance will be covered, in addition to instruction in dance techniques and stunts. Students begin by learning the basics of stretching and strength and agility, then move on to blending music, movement, and expression. Three sections are offered from 9 a.m. to noon June 28-July 16 for $80 a week.
• Body Works takes a look at the processes of the human body and includes hands-on labs and experimentation. Four sections of classes are offered either from 10 a.m. to noon or 4-6 p.m. starting July 11 and continuing until July 21 for $70 per week.
• Inventor’s Workshop encourages students to think like an inventor and covers some of history’s greatest inventions. , students will learn to look at everyday objects in a new way and to learn techniques to become more creative and inventive. One section for $80 is offered from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. July 18-21.
• Digital photography is available for children ages 10-14 for a fee of $80. One section from 2- 5 p.m. is offered July 18-21.
• Also for children 10-14 is the class in Flash animation, in which students learn to create animated movies using Adobe Flash, the preferred design tool of industry pros. One section from 2-5 p.m. July 11-14.is offered for $80.
• A new offering this summer is “Authors in the Making: Bringing Words to Life,” designed to improve students’ writing skills by practicing a variety of genres, from personal narrative to poetry. Students are encouraged to take multiple sessions, which run from 10 a.m. to noon or 1 to 3 p.m.  July 18-28 for $70 per week.
• A Summer 2011 Reading Skills Program is available for both children and adults. Offered by the Institute of Reading Development, eight levels of classes for ages ranging from 4 to adult are available. Classes meet once weekly for five weeks between June 23-Aug. 29. The cost is $239 with a materials fee of $34.
•  “Art Under the Sea” introduces children to different art mediums and teaches them foreground and background concepts as they create their own ocean scenery and mosaic fish.  The fee is $80 for the 9 a.m. to noon workshop, offered July11-14 and repeated July 18-21.

For information about the College for Kids program, go to http://www.cuyamaca.edu/cfk or call the Continuing Education office at (619) 660-4350. Cuyamaca College is located at 900 Rancho San Diego Parkway in the community of Rancho San Diego.

For more information about the colleges and the district, go to www.gcccd.edu.

*
Preceding provided by Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District