Arts and Culture Summer School
Our staff understands (as immigrants ourselves) the multiple and often interlocking challenges that emerge when you move to a new country and need to acclimate to a new cultural environment, especially if you don’t speak the language.
The Latino Heritage Summer School offers a unique high quality culturally responsive Arts and Language program. Students from 3rd to 8th grade have the opportunity to improve and increase their English and Spanish language vocabulary. They engage in learning and exploring each other’s cultures, discussing differences and developing social awareness and relationships skills. Activities include reading, writing a play, dancing, singing, playing instruments and performing. Camp will conclude with a final public showcase.
The primary educational objective of this program is to teach English Language Learner (ELL) students and help them increase their vocabulary in both English and Spanish. We achieve this by enriching the student’s knowledge about the cultures, music, dance, and geography of various Latin American countries. This model helps students understand the importance of sharing their ethnic backgrounds, help them get closer to their roots, celebrate and pass on traditions and foster values based on love and unity. Another important element of this program is to raise climate change awareness among our children and their families.
The program design is based on hands-on learning activities. Our instructional approach is a mix of interacting instructions and experiential learning with group activities which include reading, writing, discussion session, dancing, singing and music. It concludes with an end of program showcase.
The curriculum is designed with carefully planned day-to-day, and week-to-week activities. Through collaborative projects, students get the chance to work with one another toward the program’s final goal, which is creating a play based on what they learned during the program.
Our staff understands (as immigrants ourselves) the multiple and often interlocking challenges that emerge when you move to a new country and need to acclimate to a new cultural environment, especially if you don’t speak the language.
This is a 5-week program scheduled every weekday from July to August, running from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
VROCC programming includes folkloric dance, ballet, theater, latin and mariachi music classes, entrepreneurship, leadership and social emotional learning.
Listen to the bilingual podcast created by youth from the leadership and entrepreneurship program ‘Dancing Elotes’
