Folk Dance Program at John C. Burroughs Elementary School, 3542 S Washtenaw Ave.

Outreach

Old Town School’s Artist-in-Residence program served more than 2,400 children in 15 different CPS schools throughout the city during the 2014-2015 school year. The School received an outpouring of positive feedback from participating teachers. Here’s some of what they had to say:

"Old Town School’s teaching artist knew how to capture the students' attention. She was always, always extremely motivated and pleasant! The children loved their dance time” - John C. Burroughs Elementary School, Emily Haines, Folk Dance.

“My students absolutely LOVED their time spent with her [the teaching artist]. They were always excited and looked forward to Tuesday mornings. I cannot stress enough how lucky we were to have been chosen for this residency. I want to thank everyone who made this residency possible.” - William P. Nixon Elementary School, 2121 N Keeler Ave. on teaching artist Lindsay Weinberg leading Global Voices.

“This residency brought art forms to our school that would not be possible through our own programming or arts teachers' expertise. Old Town and the teaching artists brought something to our school that colored the classrooms, halls, and community.” - Joyce Kilmer Elementary School, 6700 N Greenview Ave. on teaching artists Carlos Cornier, Latin Percussion, and Marisa Cordeiro,Capoeira.

Cooper Elementary Dual Language Academy, 1624 W 19th St.

Summer Camp

Teen campers at their final Teen Camp Cabaret Showcase on August 14, 2015.

240 kids attended Old Town School’s summer camps this year. This includes the School’s signature 4 to 6 year old and 7 to 11 year old camps, Fiddle Camp, as well as a first ever Teen Summer Camp!

Made up of eight, one-week sessions designed to be flexible with various schedules, teens aged 12 - 15, could attend the new Teen Camp for one week, a few scattered weeks throughout the summer, or all eight weeks in a row! The camp consisted of different multi-disciplinary arts programming every week, each culminating in a showcase event at a neighborhood venue. Areas of study included poetry, rap, writing, stage combat, storytelling, music recording, stand-up comedy, comics, photography, dance, and filmmaking.

Financial Aid

Through generous support, Old Town School of Folk Music has a budgeted $220,706 for financial aid in 2015, a 7% increase from 2014. Nearly half of that amount, $95,133 went to help children attend group classes or our summer camp programming, which just finished on August 14th. Much of that money comes directly from memberships and donations.

Supporting the school means supporting the idea that arts – music, dance, theater, and more – are for everyone!