Super Saturdays!

It's Saturday morning at the Flint Institute of Music and there's a new excitement in the air. Students ranging from four to 16 are enjoying a variety of music and dance classes. Their parents, care-givers and siblings are here, too, taking part in classes and special workshops. These dynamic programs are all part of our second year offering Super Saturdays, another exhilarating program here at the FIM!

Super Saturdays is a vehicle for students in one of the FIM's many tuition-free programs to transition to on-site study of music or dance at the Flint School of Performing Arts. "We see these students all the time," said program coordinator Glen Holcomb, "the ones who have a special spark and really connect with the experience they're having in one of our programs. But up until now, there has been no realistic way for them to come here to our building to study."

Super Saturdays gives young people a place to go on Saturday mornings for classes in beginning ballet, creative movement and hip hop, and the chance to try a variety of instruments, sing and drum. "We try to remove as many barriers to participation as possible by providing transportation, as well as workshops for the parents or caregivers," said FSPA tuition-free Director Karen Mills Jennings. "The idea is to have our Atrium serve as a sort of community center where everyone feels comfortable gathering."

The program is funded by a three-year grant from the Ruth Mott Foundation and will continue through the school year.

For more information, call Glen Holcomb at 810.238.1350 ext. 134

Select Your Energy and Move! - Music, dance, and theatre offer creative outlets that can have a tremendously positive impact on young people. The FSPA, in collaboration with the Flint Housing Commission, brings children living in family housing complexes together for 90 minutes, once a week.

Pierce School/Cultural Center Campus Classes - FSPA instructors work with fifth and sixth graders from Pierce Elementary School who attend classes on the Cultural Center Campus. Throughout the school year, students are exposed to a variety of programs that provide an overview of the performing arts as part of their daily curriculum. They participate in projects, including dance classes, as well as staging portions of Nutcracker, and writing and producing their own musical.

Head Start - One of the most successful and longest-running outreach programs at the FSPA is six-day residency for Flint Head Start children. Head Start provides children ages three to five from low-income families a chance to participate in FIM's innovative programs designed specifically for the development of young children. Each year over 550 children participate in creative movement and music.

Movement for Life - This creative movement program is another collaboration with the Flint Housing Commission and is designed just for seniors, even those with limited mobility. It is currently offered at Mince Manor and Simmons Square senior housing facilities in Flint.

SKIP - Based on the popular and important Early Childhood Music Program, this provides parents the opportunity to introduce their children (ages birth through three) to the benefits of music.

Boys and Girls Club of Greater Flint provides after school programming for Flint area children. The FSPA provides a Create a Musical activity for Club participants to create the lyrics, music, dance and script for a musical they present at the end of the program.

Motherly Intercession provides support to children with an incarcerated parent. Summer sessions are held with music instructor Glen Holcomb and other FSPA instructors to introduce them to music and dance.

Shelter of Flint provides safe housing and services for homeless single parents and their children. A series of creative movement activities are offered for residents and their children to attend together with a FSPA dance instructor.

Tuition Free Programs sponsored by Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Ruth Mott Foundation, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur E. Summerfield and Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs.