Lerner S. - Kids who think outside the box (2005)(en)

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dancers ever since. The Ballet School Summer program began in 1999 to help aspiring young dancers practice their form and understand the skill and endurance needed to become a professional dancer.

DESCRIPTION: There is an intensive schedule for each program. The Junior group focuses on improving the students’ flexibility and strength, along with their form. The class studies a few forms of dance, such as folk and modern. The Seniors also work on ballet technique, but jazz, modern, and other forms of dance are incorporated into the schedule. The Intensive program teaches how to dance and prevent injury, as well as creative choreography.

OUR TAKE: Becoming a dancer takes an enormous amount of time, and it is best to begin at a very young age. All three of these programs are key to helping aspiring dancers improve their technique and to helping them understand the pressure and pain it takes to become an excellent dancer. These programs will help your kid on the path to becoming a professional dancer.

OUR RECOMMENDATION: If your child is eligible, contact the Director for more information. This is a once in a lifetime experience for a dancer!

SUMMER THEATRE INSTITUTE Performing arts camp

Allyn Sitjar, Director Summer Theatre Institute Youth Theatre of New Jersey 23 Tomahawk Trail

Sparta, NJ 07871 [phone]

[e-mail]

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QUICK TAKE: This is a theater camp like no other program available. The Summer Theatre Institute is based in New York City amid the great shows of Broadway. Here, students will get the opportunity to work with professional instructors and learn about various aspects of the theater. A great program for any student wishing to apply to a college-level theater program.

AGE REQUIREMENT: 14–19

SPONSORSHIP/OWNERSHIP/ACCREDITATION: Columbia Uni-

versity

FEES: Application fee, $55. Room and board, $4,600 to $4,800 (early enrollment discount may apply).

BACKGROUND: The Youth Theatre of New Jersey is an intense theater program for young aspiring actors. In 1989, the Youth Theatre began a program called the Summer Theatre Institute at Columbia University in New York City. The main goal of the camp is to create a healthy, respectful environment for kids to explore various acting skills.

DESCRIPTION: The Summer Institute is a professional camp for kids to try their hand at one of many aspects of theater. All students will be in core classes, which will help with acting, improvisation, and speech. Students may concentrate on one of these four categories: Actors, Musical Theater Actors, Playwrights, and Directors. In each group, students will work with professionals and be encouraged to create new forms of theater. Each session is about four weeks in either June or July.

OUR TAKE: This is definitely a theater camp for the best of the best. Columbia is an Ivy League college, and students will get

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first-hand experience in going to school in a busy city. With programs for every student’s interest, attendees will gain a great deal from this experience.

OUR RECOMMENDATION: This is a very focused camp, so make sure your kid is really interested.

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ATHLETE

Competitor

he United States has hundreds of sports programs and Tcamps to meet your child’s needs. Your choice will depend on whether your child is looking for a competitive program or one that is less intent on “the win,” more relaxed, and more interested in teaching the sport, playing the game, and having fun.

This section reviews the U.S.A. Slider Search, which is the name for the U.S. Olympic Luge Team Recruitment Effort. This is one example of how a parent may involve a child in an Olympic Sport. There are many other Olympic sports, and some are more competitive than others and some offer greater opportunity for involvement.

OLYMPIC REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY Olympic sports camp

Brad Clark, Director

Lake Placid, NY 12946 [phone] ext. 250 [e-mail] www.orda.org

QUICK TAKE: Do you ever wonder how kids make it to the Olympic Winter Games? Well it’s obvious that they choose a sport, work hard, and dedicate their lives to it. ORDA is a good place to begin. If your child has an affinity for the bobsled, ORDA is where he or she must train. It’s a camp where students get to “be” the people in the bobsled and “be” the people skiing. This program provides the knowledge and training needed to start working on Olympic sports. The program

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also includes opportunities to see the area and the Winter Olympic Museum.

AGE REQUIREMENT: The earlier the better—grade school age and older.

FEES: One-day rate for the day camp, $65; multiday rates available. Training and classes take place at ORDA.

BACKGROUND: Lake Placid Gold Medal Games encourage teamwork and camaraderie through group sports. Classes are held in the summer and winter; sports offered vary with the season. The Gold Medal Adventure Day Camp is held from June to September.

DESCRIPTION: This is where a child can get that Winter Olympics feel. However, if the Summer Olympics is your kid’s thing, you can also begin your research here. The Gold Medal Adventure Day Camp provides the equipment needed to participate in the many sports it offers, among them the luge, freestyle skiing, canoeing, and bobsledding. Before the students start practicing, they will be trained under professionals to ensure safety. Students will also receive lunch and are given the chance to tour the 1932 and 1980 Olympic Winter Museum.

OUR TAKE: This is the best way for your child to understand firsthand what it takes to be an Olympic athlete. This is a great way for students to learn to work together and make new friends as they learn and play amazing sports. The camp allows for many adventures during the day, plus time to see the awe-inspiring memorabilia in the museum. There are so many programs available to all ages that this could be a funfilled family vacation. See the Web site for more information.

OUR RECOMMENDATION: The camp is designed to allow time for leisure and for beginners to learn to ski/bobsled/luge or participate in any other sport and could really get your child

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thinking about the devotion and time it takes to become an Olympian.

U.S.A. SLIDER SEARCH

U.S. Olympic Luge Team Recruitment Effort

Registration Department 35 Church Street

Lake Placid, NY 12946-1805 (800) USA-LUGE [e-mail] www.usaluge.org/slidersearch

QUICK TAKE: Step one in the recruitment effort of the highly decorated U.S. Olympic Luge Team. If your child is an Olympic hopeful looking for a sport that has an on-going recruitment effort, then the USA Slider Search is for your child. Even for the kids who don’t qualify for the intensive one-week winter training camp in Lake Placid, New York, this program offers fun and challenges.

AGE REQUIREMENT: 10–14

FEE: Registration, $15.

SPONSORSHIP/OWNERSHIP/ACCREDITATION: Verizon USA

BACKGROUND: This program was established in 1986 by Bonnie Warner, a former luge athlete from California. Today, the Slider Search conducts annual searches in eight cities across the United States and is the primary source for finding talent for the U.S. Luge team. Aspiring athletes are offered the opportunity to participate in the weekend programs, designed to recruit kids for the team.

DESCRIPTION: Throughout the summer, the Slider Search team travels to different quadrants of the country for weekend

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sessions in which kids learn the nuances of competing in the luge. They are shown actual equipment used in the Winter Games and are introduced to the summer equipment, which is a sled anchored by inline skating wheels. Then, the kids are taken to a slope where they gradually go further distances and are presented with increasingly difficult obstacles. Finally, a small battery of fitness tests and an obstacle course are given to test the kids’ athletic abilities. Strong upper-body strength is a plus. At the end of the summer, the most promising 75 from the more than 800 participants come to Lake Placid in the winter for one of three one-week training camps (25 kids per camp).

OUR TAKE: What we really like about the U.S.A. Luge Slider Search is that everyone gets to participate. Even if the kid isn’t gifted enough to make it to Lake Placid in the winter, he or she gets a chance to have fun, learn a new sport, and get a feel for the competitive process. The bottom line is that for a very nominal expenditure a child can try out for the Olympics and possibly make it to the next step. It’s an experience and an event from which memories are made.

OUR RECOMMENDATION: If you plan ahead your child can prepare a bit, improve upper body strength, and possibly even practice on a summer luge to get a feel for the sport. It’s an accessible opportunity for a child to fulfill his/her dream and focus on a competitive objective. Who knows, the next step could be the Lake Placid luge track.

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DESIGNER

Architect

hen children decide on a profession, they usually feel Wthat only a limited number of options are available: they can be a teacher, doctor, lawyer, police officer, firefighter, president, or mayor. Yet, how many times have you looked at the cover of your child’s notebook and seen doodles that are so sophisticated and designs so advanced that you feel your kid has the makings of an architect, fashion designer, or interior designer? The programs offered in this section provide a perfect opportunity to expose your child to careers in design.

The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), located in the “fashion capital of the world,” New York City, offers teens who design their own “different” fashions the opportunity to turn these ideas into a fashion trend at its summer program. For your jewelry maker, take a look at the Rhode Island School of Design program. Catholic University in Washington, DC, and Washington University in St. Louis, both offer programs in architecture.

These programs expose teens to areas that might otherwise go unacknowledged. The talent of these children is often unappreciated until they enter their desired professions. These programs offer them the opportunity for earlier recognition and may help to build their self-esteem.

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CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY EXPERIENCES IN ARCHITECTURE

Architecture camp

Jeff Roberson, Director Catholic University

620 Michigan Avenue NE Washington, DC 20064 [phone] [e-mail] www.summer.cua.edu

QUICK TAKE: This intensive study of architecture allows young adults to explore the magnificent architecture of Washington, DC and gives them a backstage pass to architects’ offices, as well as trips to construction sites. Students also gain the experience of living in a college dorm. The university offers various sports from swimming to racquetball.

AGE REQUIREMENT: 15–18

FEES: Day program, $915–$1,025. Room and board, $1,200. Financial aid is available.

SPONSORSHIP/OWNERSHIP/ACCREDITATION: Catholic Univer-

sity of America

BACKGROUND: The Catholic University of America was founded in 1887 by Catholic bishops whose goal was to establish a university that challenges the student’s intellect. The university has a wide range of colleges and majors to accommodate the student’s focus and offers many summer programs to suit any young adult’s interests.

DESCRIPTION: The program consists of two three-week sessions in June and July. Campers analyze and observe many of DC’s famous buildings and monuments. The students also visit local architects and nearby construction sites.

OUR TAKE: If your son or daughter has a deep interest in a specific field, this program will help him or her gain a greater

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understanding of the subject and will be a plus on college applications, especially if an architecture school is in the future.

OUR RECOMMENDATION: The camp is very focused, so make sure your son or daughter is willing to devote the summer to intense, but enjoyable, study.

FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: SUMMER LIVE AT FIT

Fashion design camp

Center for Pre-College Programs Seventh Avenue at 27 Street New York, NY 10001

[phone] www.fitnyc.edu

QUICK TAKE: Kids are in control as they express their creative side and study at an institute that recruits students who definitely think outside the box. At FIT, students are given the chance to attend classes and experience courses in fashion, computer technology, and other related subjects.

AGE REQUIREMENT: 11–18

FEES: New York residents, $250 for one class, $485 for two; out-of-state, $325 for one class, $635 for two classes. No boarding program is available, but contact the program director for information about housing in the area.

SPONSORSHIP/OWNERSHIP/ACCREDITATION: Fashion Institute

of Technology

BACKGROUND: Started in 1944 as a small school, FIT has become a leading venue for the study of fashion. It also offers programs in design, computer technology, merchandising, production, and more.

DESCRIPTION: The program, which runs for three weeks in July, allows students to take one or two classes from FIT’s