Health, Hygiene, Nutrition, and Fitness

One of the perks of being at THEARC's Summer youth program is the different speakers that come to spread their expertise on different topics. The presentations are not only informative but they give vital information for your everyday life. The information could also save your life!

Dr. Yolanda Lewis-Ragland gave direction today with a presentation on health, fitness, and hygiene. Her presentation reviewed the importance of exercise to avoid diabetes, depression, and obesity. She also reviewed nutrition and the food pyramid and emphasized the importance of fruits and vegetables.

As far as nutrition goes, there are a number of articles that discuss our Nation's obesity epidemic. Obesity and diabetes are plagues to the African American community because of the failure to go to the doctor, failure to exercise, and failure to eat nutritional foods. Diseases from malnutrition do not only affect the African American community, they are harmful to everyone. For example, commercial businesses pitch greasy foods to children such as, Mc Donald's commercials. Kids also do not know about the rewards of exercise, because they are busy playing video games or it is too dangerous to play outside because of the high violence and kidnapping rate.

Hygiene plays an important role in keeping healthy and it enables longevity. Brushing your teeth, bathing, and wearing clean clothes not only helps health wise, but it gives a presentation of cleanliness and a positive presentation of yourself, which is important when you have a job. At an interview if you look dirty, smelly, and not put together you may not get the job, because you are giving a signal that you just do not care.

Dr. Lewis-Ragland ended her presentation with some exercise and delicious smoothies. Yum!

Dr. Lewis-Ragland is the aunt of Kianna Lewis. Here is Kianna enjoying a nice smoothie







Check out this video of exercise time!




LIGHTS, CAMERA ACTION!
Mr. Joe Walker returned today to teach the class about how to use light gels (color filters) on lights, how to make interesting shapes with the light shutters and he reviewed the different types of lights and lighting. Lights are not easy to manipulate, the class needed some help from Mr. Walker. Here are a few pictures from today's session

MOVIE TUESDAY

After a long holiday weekend came a wonderful day to get out of the intense heat and watch a nice entertaining movie at THEARC. Children from various Summer camps and the Boy's and Girl's club came running in to see one of the Disney/Pixar greatest-hits, "Finding Nemo". What more could you ask for? There was air conditioning, a free movie, balloons, and snacks were on sale for a $1. The "I Can" participates at THEARC learned the meaning of hard work during their prep for the movie. A ton of balloons had to be blown up, the slushies had to be made, the popcorn had to be popped, and the cotton candy had to be hot off the machine. At the end of the day, the youth learned that the making of a dollar can go a long way.

Here are a few pictures from today


Kia and Maria are working hard blowing up balloons

Karrell is making some interesting things


Here are the kids enjoying the fruits of their labor


Johnny Sweet serves up a nice cold slushie

DAY 5: Set the Mood

Today We took a trip to one of the top Historically Black College Universities, Howard University..go Bisons! "
Here is Maria enjoying our bus trip to Howard

To study at Howard University is choosing an institution that is experienced, dynamic, and diverse – with a tradition of quality education since 1867 provided by the constant engagement of its faculty toward the students and their needs, and by its rich campus social and cultural life."-www.howard.edu.

Howard University has opened its doors to us to study with Michael Stepowani, who the Technical Director. Mr. Stepowani will be assisting us in building the set and informing us on what set design is all about.

The context and environment in which a situation is set; the background, the time, place, and circumstances in which a narrative, drama, or film takes place defines the set. Take a moment to think of any plays or films that have a great set. What made it realistic, recognizable, and informational. A good set will have all those aspects. Keep that in mind when we start building the set for "Do You Like Good Music" next week.

Here are a few pictures of our trip:

Day 4: DRESS THE PART & LISTEN TO THE BEAT

DRESS THE PART

Costume's set the time, mood, and elude to the setting in both plays and movies. It's important that the costumes fit perfectly for the audience and the actor. For example, let's say you have a set based on the '70s, baggy pants and oversized white tees definitely do not fit the part or time. If the audience sees baggy pants they might think, "oh, this is a modern day play and it's probably urban based...I should expect some Hip Hop references. But if the play is set in the '70s and the actor has pants that are not fitted properly then, the actor also may have trouble walking in them and possibly fall while on stage. Costume Designer Michael Murray says, "measuring is everything". Mr. Murray gave an assignment based on measuring the body. Today we had to pair-up with a partner and take each other's measurements in preparation for "Do You Like Good Music?" . Get ready for costumes from Motown's prime years. Yes, that means afros, bell bottoms, & sparkly sequence.





LISTEN TO THE BEAT

Take a moment, be silent and just listen to the noise around you. If you were to record the noises it will be called white noise, which is a variation of sound. Sound can be controlled and manipulated through a sound board, which is a hollow chamber whose dimensions allow the resonant oscillation of electromagnetic or acoustic waves. It's essential that sound is controlled during performances because you want the noises to be distinguished for the audience, the actors, and anyone who is recording the performance.

Today we had the privilege to learn a few things from a professional sound technician, Mr. Garcia. Mr. Garcia controls the sound at THEARC and has his own thriving sound company that is well known throughout DC. He has done several events, including a Father's Day Convention, which President Barrack Obama was present! He defines sound as input and output...simple right? Well, ask the Summer Youth and they will tell you that sound can be quite complex.

Mr. Garcia is one tough cookie and he challenges the youth to THINK, when he asks questions. Here he is quizzing the youth about what they learned...you better get things right or you will be doing push-ups.

Day 3: The Lime LIGHTS!

DISCUSSION TIME

An important part of any job or even any relationship in life begins with Communication. This is a key lesson for any young person to learn early in life and it may even prevent any obstacles that may pop-up in a variety of situations. This Morning began with a presentation and discussion by Ms. Beverly Carroll and special guest, Minster Page. Ms. Carroll and Minister Page invited us to join their in a discussion about Parent-Child Communication, and its importance in young people's lives. An interesting topic presented itself, "Why are the youth not encouraged to talk to adults about intense troubles that commonly plague teens?" The top response was embarrassment, especially when it comes to discussions that may become arguments or lectures about sex and drugs.


Minister Page and Ms. Carroll stressed that parents want to be included in their children's lives because they love them and want to prevent their child from making the mistakes that they themselves have made earlier in life. Nevertheless, this was a deep an intimate discussion that was very productive. Thank you Ms. Carroll and Minister Page!


THE LIME LIGHTS
Mr. Joe Walker, former instructor for the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and renowned Lighting Designer for Tyler Perry, Musiq Soulchild, Erykah Badu, and other internationally known artists, had the courtesy of instructing theater lighting and lighting technology. Mr. Walker Introduced the students to the various lights used in theater and the importance of having great lighting in a production. Everybody had a chance to match fun lighting schemes to the rhythm of popular Hip Hop hits.




Here the class experiments with the lights



Nice technique

Concessions Sessions

Popcorn, Cotton Candy and Snow Cones anyone? The Summer Youth from THEARC and the Splash Park group met today in preparation for "Movie Tuesdays!", a fun-filled night of FREE movies, cotton candy and snacks, which will begin next Tuesday with the premiere of "Finding Nemo". Various kids from camps, programs, and extra-curricular activities will get to enjoy snacks and popcorn after viewing the movie.

Today the groups had fun prepping, learning, and eating. It's nice to enjoy an ice-cold snow cone on a hot day.

Here is a few pictures of the Concessions Sessions.


Everybody's learning how to make popcorn & snow cones...yum!
Cotton Candy Hot From the Machine


Ms. Kia is enjoying the fruits of her labor : )

The Concession stand is seen as a simple business. There is interaction with the customer (customer service); distribution of the product (purchasing), and earning captiol (gaining a dollar). This may seem like a simple business, but a lot values are gained.

The Beginning of a Beautiful Thing

Learning, Dreaming, Building...Today marks the first day of six weeks of the THEARC's Summer Youth Program, sponsored by Capital One, William C. Smith and Co., and Verizon. About 15 teens, from different areas and backgrounds come together to put on a production of their own, and get to know the in's and out's of theater. I can tell these six weeks are going to be fun-filled, by the different personalities that I've seen today.

Mr. Johnny Sweet is the life of the party!!


Today the group "Learned" the dynamics of putting on a show, "Dreamed" about the aspects of the kind of show that we want to present, and in the upcoming weeks, the group will "Build" that dream.

During the learning process, we watched a previous production of "Do You Like Good Music," a musical discography of the days of Motown and the music of the late '60s and early '70s, and gathered ideas about costumes, make-up, lighting, and sound. After the viewing, the young producers of tomorrow broke into groups of their desired interests and brain-stormed about this years vision of "Do You Like Good Music", and took an extensive tour of THEARC.


After the day was over the group reflected about their future at THEARC and their masterpiece to-be.




Chris Page, one of the youth program members writes, "...I am enjoying myself. Being in the presence of new and interesting people for the first time is refreshing. What I learned today is that we are going to work hard and perform tedious tasks to ensure a successful and entertaining production. I look forward to all that I will experience in the next six weeks."

The program has already took effect on Ms. Dana Smith. She writes,

"What I want to get out of this program is to learn what I don't know and to expand what I do. My goal here is to teach others what I know and to find resources to help if I can't. Today I discovered different places of THEARC that I never knew existed. I was elated to see different parts of it. I expect that this program will teach me backstage work and also will teach me to be independent."

Today marks the beginning of a beautiful thing. Stay tuned to what tomorrow will bring. : )