Migrant summer camp allows students to learn about the arts, improve public speaking

About 30 migrant students participated in the two-week arts program, which was funded by a 2020 Vision grant.

By Tammy Lane
Fayette County Public Schools
 

No production of “The Stinky Cheese Man” was ever so sweet.
 

About 30 children invited by the Fayette County school district’s migrant education staff put on a half-hour performance for their families, demonstrating what they learned about theater and the self-confidence they gained during a two-week arts program.
 

“We’ve had a fabulous adventure,” said Amie Kisling, associate education director at the Lexington Children’s Theatre.
 

Along with a handful of Berea College students, she guided the Hispanic children through the basics of acting as they delved into “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.” Their closing play, presented June 29 at host site William Wells Brown Elementary, included such skits as “The Princess and the Bowling Ball,” “Little Red Running Shorts” and “Goldilocks and the Three Elephants.”
 

Before they went on stage, Kisling encouraged the students to step lively when it was their turn and to use their biggest voices. She also reminded them of one secret of live theater: “Something will go wrong, but we just keep on rolling!” An older boy nodded, calling out “Improvise!” – one of the new vocabulary words he picked up during the three-hour weekday lessons.
 

Kisling’s sessions, funded by a 2020 Vision grant, topped off this year’s migrant summer program in Fayette County Public Schools. The month-long activities, which targeted rising first- through sixth-graders, had started with tutoring in the children’s own environment.
 

“It was neat to be in their homes and see what their lives are like,” said Jacob Patton, one of the assistants from Berea College, who plans to be a high school math teacher.
 

The school district provided backpacks for the youngsters with resources like flash cards, vocabulary blocks, books on their reading level and hands-on VersaTiles to reinforce reading, math and science. For the kids who then participated in the theater camp, the tutoring continued for an hour each day.
 

Wanda Snowden, a migrant advocate in FCPS, said June’s activities also included a field trip to Raven Run Nature Sanctuary, a lesson on monarch butterflies from the Living Arts & Science Center and storytelling with supporters from the YMCA of Central Kentucky.
 

“We tried to mix it up for summer,” she said.
 

When the arts program began, Kisling discovered that only three kids in the group had ever appeared in a play and a half dozen had never seen a live production. She made the most of the teaching opportunity and hit on several core-content areas. For instance, the focus on “Stinky Cheese Man” stressed not only hearing how to pronounce the English words but also grasping the meaning of unfamiliar concepts.
 

“They saw the story (as I read from the book) and read the script themselves, and then we were able to put it on its feet and block,” Kisling said.
 

She also pulled in some math in the stage blocking, which uses mapping skills and spatial relationships. Art was involved, too, as the kids designed small props, set pieces and scene posters.
 

“It’s also about confidence and public speaking,” Kisling said, noting how far the children had advanced with limited preparation and practice.
 

Rising seventh-grader Grecia Romero initially volunteered simply to help out but soon found herself starring as one of the main narrators of the play, appearing alongside two younger brothers. One of her favorite parts was the daily warm-ups for acting – their bodies, their voices and their imaginations.
 

“It was an experience that not many summer programs provide,” Romero said.