Students attending the Art and Nature class at Gavilan College’s
annual College for Kids summer program stand side by side, necks
craning over a paint-splattered tabletop, their brushes silently
dusting across ceramic animals they molded days before.
Students attending the Art and Nature class at Gavilan College’s annual College for Kids summer program stand side by side, necks craning over a paint-splattered tabletop, their brushes silently dusting across ceramic animals they molded days before.
The combination art/science course is one of four enrichment classes including music, creative writing and computers taught in the program.
“College for Kids is a summer program, but we kind of gear it towards (activities) they don’t necessarily get in school during the regular school year,” explained instructor Dorothy Laage.
While originally signing on as an art teacher, Laage asked program directors if she could incorporate the lessons with some physical science concepts.
“The whole concept was to combine some life science with some art projects,” she said. “Let them express how they feel about nature through art.”
The three-week session ends today. It hosted 45 children 8 to 12 Monday through Fridays at the college.
College for Kids is designed to introduce the Gavilan campus to community members and keep children active during summer vacation.
“Most (parents who enroll their children) don’t want sitting around at home playing video games, watching television all day,” said Zoi Gonzalez–Alvarez.
The camp is more than 20 years old and operates under the original format: Four enrichment classes in the morning, followed by sporting events in the afternoon.
“It stimulates them academically in the morning, and physically in the afternoon,” explained Gavilan’s Community Education Director, Lynda Nolan Kerr.
But that’s not how the kids see it.
“It’s fun,” said 10–year–old Luis Mayo, as he finished painting his ceramic turtle. “My favorite part is computers and music. I don’t know what I’m going to do now (that it’s ending).”
Return camper, Francesca Filice had similar sentiments.
The 12 year old became an expert in the computer class, where students built their own amusement parks and learned safe Internet practices online.
The computer screen cast a blue glow across her face as she dragged and clicked her way to developing her theme park: Sport Adventure Island.
“I wanted to do something over the summer,” she said. “I didn’t want to just stay at home and this was fun.”
