June

During the summer of 2007 CMS’s Vacation Bible School grew to offer five weeks of programming at four churches.This partnership with local churches provides urban young people with the opportunity to learn about God’s loveVacationwhile enjoying the arts, music and each other. In addition to Bible study, we offer many ways for children to becreative.BibleTwo churches helped the young participants write and perform poetry using Hip Hop music as a new form ofSchoolreligious expression. Willie Van Doren, a local Hip Hop artist, worked with these groups and noted, “They listen tohip-hop a lot already and this gave them a way of using it in a positiveExpandsway. They were really engaged and learned a lot.”Other programs combined poetry and improvisational theatre tointerpret stories from the Bible and how they relate to our daily lives. All the groupsused some form of visual arts to further stimulate their imaginations. These activitieswere led by artist Jorge Drosten and performing artist Ted Thomas.• 124 children from throughout Boston enjoyed themselves in a safe summer activity.• The Massachusetts Bible Society donated 100 Bibles for the children.• St. Mark Congregational in Roxbury, Brighton Allston Congregational, BethelPentecostal Church in Dorchester and the International Community Church inAllston opened their doors to host the Bible Schools.Youth Arts for Academic Achievement has been offering hands-on activities to students in theirclassrooms for almost 20 years. It successfully connects working artists and poets with hundredsof children to help develop their self-esteem and discover the joys of creativity through the arts.This bi-lingual program serves primarily at-risk, low-incomechildren who come from a variety of ethnic backgrounds. Thisprogram employs the arts as a means to appeal to children’smultiple learning styles, furthering their growth in all domains— physical, cognitive, emotion and social. Their skills inlanguage arts, problem-solving, social studies andcommunications all benefit from this program. They also learnto express their feelings and thoughts in a positive, safe andcreative manner.Textile artwork created in the Youth Arts programChildren enjoying themselves at a Bible School• One hundred and thirty children participated in this 28-week program.Boston SchoolChildren LearnCreative Ways toProblem-Solveand Communicate• Partnerships with the Hurley School in the South End and the Curley and Hennigan Schoolsin Jamaica Plain prospered. An afterschool program was added at the Hurley School.• The New England Technology Council became a major funder for for this program.New WorkshopsOffered toReduce YouthViolencePeace Poetry Workshops were created by CMS poet-in-residence, Sara Ting, as a new element to theYouth Arts program. The two-part workshop is an early intervention strategy that helps children getin touch with their feelings about violence in their community. The first session helps children dealwith those emotions that trigger violence and acting out. The second session gets them to identifythings they can do to calm themselves down. The goal is to understand anger as a natural humanemotion that can be defused. In its first year, 65 children took part in the Peace Poetry Workshops.To promote this program and reward the children’s efforts, CMS created holiday cards using some oftheir poems.4What “peace” means to some of the children in the Peace Workshops...“I wish there was peaceeverywhere, around thecorner, in the house, aroundthe world. Peace is importantto people who want it. Peoplepray every day to have it.”“When you share and do nicethings you are giving peace toyour friends, yourself and theearth.”“ When I go outside and feelthe wind blow across mygentle, happy face or when Isee the sun shining on thebeautiful and colorful flowers,I feel the peace.”