Oak Ridge Today

Children’s Museum Offers Camps during Fall Break

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Children will have opportunities to dance, cook, create pottery and explore the natural world during Oak Ridge Schools’ fall break at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge. Week-long Imagination Station Intersession Camps for elementary and middle school students will be held Oct. 5-9 and Oct. 12-16.

Exercise guru Leah Chance will lead special Kids in Action activities on Saturday, Oct. 10. For children in the 1st-4th grades, activities include moving feet and working up a sweat, going on a scavenger hunt in the garden for a cool down, and games that teach about nutrition, burning calories and foods to eat before exercise. Each session is limited to 20 children.  Join Chance from 10:30 a.m.-noon or 1-2:30 p.m. for Kids in Action, free with admission to the museum.

“Imagination Station campers learn and grow through play in a fun and safe environment,” said Lorraine Bowen, museum educator. “Through our wide range of themes and activities, as well as our hands-on exhibits, we hope to foster campers’ imaginations and passion for lifelong learning.”

To register for a camp, stop by or call the museum at (865) 482-1074 or see www.childrensmuseumofoakridge.org/classes/. Fees for week-long camps are $125 for members and $135 for non-members. Campers staying all day should bring lunches. To pay in person or by mail, download a PDF of the registration form at the web site. A number of scholarships are available. An application is on the web site. Deadline to apply is Oct. 2.

Camps offered Oct. 5-9 are:

  • Mud Pies, 9 a.m.-noon, ages 5-8. Children will explore ways to build and make unique works of art, using pinch and coil techniques to make wacky creatures from clay. They will create pieces from nature, hand-build a funky mask and make a one-of-a-kind creation, with clay artist Sherrie Carris. Camp limit is 12.
  • Cookin’ in the Kitchen with Kids, 1-4 p.m., kindergarten-3rd Children will make fun, kid-friendly recipes while practicing kitchen safety and learning cooking fundamentals. They will prepare several breakfast dishes and create Mexican, Italian and Asian recipes with culinary specialist and caterer Rachel Reagan. Camp limit is 12.
  • Kids Go Green “Explore the Green World around You,” 9 a.m.-noon, 3rd-4th Youth will explore the natural world as they discover the balance needed to be in harmony with nature. With Bucky Smith, the museum’s garden manager, they will learn about living in a healthy environment through Kids Go Green’s eco-action. Camp limit is 10.
  • International Cooking, 9 a.m.-noon, 4th – 7th Youth will take a culinary journey around the world with Rachel Reagan as they prepare different recipes from Italy, France, India, Greece and China. Class limit is 12.
  • Jazz Pop, 1-4 p.m., 4th-7th Kids will join Danya Spratling to learn basic dance steps and a routine. They will make a hip hop hat, and for Halloween, create a dance to “Thriller” and “I’m a Monster.”
  • Spin Me a Tale, 1-4 p.m., ages 9-12. Youth will learn the basics of throwing on the pottery wheel and discover ways to tell stories using etching and stenciling techniques on clay. Class limit is 5.

 Another camp will be held Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Oct. 5, 7 and 9.

  • Build your own Bear, 3-5 p.m., ages 8-12. Youth will create and design their own hand sewn, stuffed bear, led by Frances Gross. They will cut a pattern, choose fabric, cut out a bear shape, pin it together, then hand sew and stuff the bear. Class limit is 8. Fee for members is $50, and non-members, $60.

Camps offered Oct. 12-16 are:

  • Expressions, for kindergarten-3rd graders, 9 a.m.-noon. Children will engage in art in a new way each day as they experiment, play, and create connections between their own creative explorations and the ideas and techniques of great artists. Camp limit is 15.
  • Creepy Cooking,for kindergarten-3rd graders, 9 a.m.-noon. Children will whip up some spooky veggies and dip, Freaky Fingers and Ghouls Brew, snake bites, Hootwiches, Zombie toast and more, with Rachel Reagan. Camp limit is 12.
  • Fall Clay, for ages 5-8, 1-4 p.m. Young clay artists will hand-build a pumpkin, spooky bat wind-chimes, ghost foot, mask, candy dish, and monster pot sculpture, and then glaze the pieces. Museum resident clay artist Sherrie Carris leads the camp. Camp limit is 12.
  • Spooktacular Clay, ages 9-13, 9 a.m.-noon. With Sherrie Carris, young potters will hand-build spooky pumpkins, ghosts, cats, masks, monster sculpture, candy dish, and more, and then glaze the pieces and have them fired in time for Halloween. Camp limit is 12.
  • Jazz Pop,4th-7th grades, 1-4 p.m. Young dancers will join Danya Spratling to learn basic dance steps and learn a routine, make a hip hop hat, and for Halloween, create a dance to “Thriller” and “I’m a Monster.”
  • Haunted by Cooking!4th – 7th grades, 1-4 p.m. Young chefs will create scary treats for fall: yummy lungs, finger food, and intestines to drink bloody hand punch with, led by Rachel Reagan. Camp limit is 12.

The Children’s Museum is open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $8 for adults, $7for seniors ages 62 and older, and $6 for children ages 3-18. Admission is free for children under 3 and museum members. For more information, call (865) 482-1074 or see the web site at www.childrensmuseumofoakridge.org.

 

Number of students affected by bus route changes down to 1,300

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Keys Fillauer and Chris Marczak at Girls Inc.

Oak Ridge Board of Education Chair Keys Fillauer, left, and Oak Ridge Schools Assistant Superintendent Chris Marczak say a Wednesday change in how mileage is calculated could reduce the number of students affected by a new “parent responsibility zone” for transportation from 1,800 to 1,300. Marczak says his family is also affected by the expanded zone, where bus service is not provided.

 

The Wednesday change in how bus service is mapped could help about 500 students, reducing the number of children affected by expanded zones where parents will have to provide transportation to schools from 1,800 to 1,300, officials said.

Those students would have been in the expanded 1.5-mile “parent responsibility zone,” where bus service is not provided and parents have to arrange transportation. The expanded parent responsibility zone, which is also sometimes called a PRZ or walk zone, was approved by school officials in June.

Oak Ridge school officials announced Wednesday that they were changing how the 1.5 miles is calculated, switching from a 1.5-mile radius measured by air (also known as “as the crow flies”) to actual walking distance. That means the expanded no-bus service zone will now affect fewer families. Parents called the change a small but positive step.

Even with the modification, though, parents continue to have concerns. The protests kicked into high gear last week, and some parents expressed concerns during a Wednesday evening meeting at Girls Inc. Among the concerns were children who have to cross busy roadways or pass by the homes of registered sex offenders.

“We are paying property taxes, and our children’s safety should come first,” parent Beverly Heun said. “Our transportation should not have been cut.” [Read more…]