12/26/2006
At Oak Haven Elementary, literacy education is an art
Jessica Selby , Daily Times

COVENTRY - Children in Coventry are being given the opportunity to "act up."
Every season, the Town of Coventry Parks and Recreation Department releases a flier filled with activities for youth and adults of all ages. In the past, those activities have been primarily sports-related.
This time, the department is taking a different approach. It is attempting to appeal to more children by offering acting classes.
"We have always had a very extensive sports program in town and not much for the arts. I just felt like the arts was something that we should offer for those kids who really are not interested in athletics so much," Carol Vigeant, program assistant for the Coventry Parks and Recreation Department, said. "We thought it would be a good opportunity for those kids to have something different to choose from so that they, too, could get involved."
Participants in the program will be introduced to stage skills and script work. They will also participate in theater-style games, concentration exercises and learn to use their voices and speech, Vigeant said.
Michael Lamb, founder and executive director of Performing Arts Programs Inc., a Connecticut-based business, will be the professional acting coach providing instruction to participants. Lamb has extensive training that allows him to work with well-versed actors and actresses as well as first-timers, Vigeant said. He formats his classes to be challenging and new, but structured in a way that can appeal to both the novice and the experienced performer, she said.
"Even though we have the experience and knowledge to help the more advanced student, our true passion is to help and instruct the beginner," Lamb said in a prepared statement.
Classes will meet downstairs in one of the Coventry Community Center's conference rooms. The classes will be held on Saturdays from Jan. 13 through March 3, Vigeant said. The cost is $80 to register and includes all necessary materials.
Children in kindergarten through first grade will have classes from 11 to 11:45 a.m. Classes for children in grades two through four will be from 11:50 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. and children in grades five through eight will have classes from 12:50 to 1:45 p.m.
To register, call the Coventry Parks and Recreation Department at 822-9107. Registrations will be accepted right up until the day before the first class as long as the interested parties go to the community center during normal operating hours - between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Those interested cannot not just show up on the first day of classes and expect to get into the class, Vigeant said.
There is a maximum number of participants allowed to register for the acting classes and, to date, Vigeant said, there has been a "very good response."
"We still have spots available, but the response has been very positive," she said.
Coventry children may also register for any of the other programs being offered by the parks and recreation department, including the town's Christmas vacation camp that runs from Dec. 27 through Dec. 29. The parent and child preschool programs including swimming, preschool acro and beginner dance start the first full week in January.
Adult dance classes that include Latin and aerobic dance are also going to begin in the new year. New this session for adults is a quilt-making group that will begin meeting on Jan. 12.
Fliers describing each of these programs in detail can be obtained at several locations around town. Most of the schools have copies as do the town library, the town hall, and the community center. A version of the flier is also available on the Web site at www.town.coventry.ri.us.