Holyoke's Connections After-School offers summer programs in acting, hip hop, transition, study skills

Acting students will get to visit a stage combat instructor at Mount Holyoke College.

submitted photoJorge Diaz Vargas and Gabriela Carrero Negron perform as Romeo and Juliet in last year's Connection Acting Shakespeare program.

submitted photoChristopher Rios tries out a kite he made last year in the Connections art club summer program.

HOLYOKE – The School Department is offering three summer programs at Peck Community School.

All three are part of the system’s Connections After-School Program.

“These programs will each offer hands-on learning opportunities, and chances to engage with other students in an inclusive, supportive learning environment,” Connections Director Jorge L. Castellano said in a press release.

An Adventure in Learning is for students in grades 6 and 7. Students will participate in four clubs daily: Mad Science, Real World Math Skills, Empowerment Club, and Hip Hop and Poetry.

Students will do science experiments, practice math and business skills, and express themselves through hip hop and poetry.

SASS: Students Aspiring for School Success is a transition program to help eighth-graders prepare for the step to high school.

Students learn study skills and get tips on what to expect from current high school students. They also go on field trips, such as to a water-adventure park.

Acting Shakespeare is for students in grades five to eight who love to act. Students get the chance to explore Shakespearean language, practice hand-to-hand stage combat and develop public speaking skills.

Students will read, write and perform their own vignette from a Shakespearean play, as well as perform it for family and friends at the outdoorCenter for Renaissance Studies at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst .

They also will have the chance to visit Mount Holyoke College, in South Hadley, to work with a stage combat instructor from Hampshire Shakespeare.

Each program is first come, first served. For information call (413) 313-7710 or email jcastellano@hps.holyoke.ma.us or sspence@hps.holyoke.ma.us.