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	Vol.7, No 42, November 10, 1999
	Children learn from Carpenter Center artists By Shreya Bhakta Daily Forty-Niner Some local school children are learning valuable skills out of the classroom and on center stage. Classroom Connections, a program designed to offer children hands-on training in theater arts, is an educational outreach program for grades K-12.  Students can learn techniques from real artists who perform at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center at Cal State Long Beach, said Peter Lesnik, program creator and executive director of the Carpenter Center. The program is free to the schools and includes live performances, lectures, demonstrations and other types of classroom visits. "This is really a great passion for me," Lesnik said. "I think it's the most important stuff we're doing." Artists visit various schools in the community and share their talents with students shortly before their scheduled performances. Each artist describes how he or she approaches their particular fields of work.  "All the performers love doing this," Lesnik said. Students are then given the opportunity to attend the artist's performances at the Carpenter Center to see how the initial creative process evolves into an actual performance. One of the reasons the program is successful is because the artists only visit small classes and are able to interact with students individually, Lesnik said. "I think that's the charm of this program," he said. "You have a small group of students and they really get a lot more out of it, just like the performers themselves do. It's a lot easier to relate to somebody when you can see their face and talk with them. The intimacy is where the real connection takes place." Lesnik said he believes the program can make a great impact in some children's lives. He specifically remembered a boy who was affected by a classroom visit. The boy wrote a song with the help of a Classroom Connection artist. His teacher said the boy had not spoken a word in a year. However, he sang that particular song in front of the whole class, leaving the teacher in tears, Lesnik said. The artist included the song in his on-stage performance at the Carpenter Center. "It's these kinds of things that really charge your battery.  When you see the way these kids connect to these programs it just kind of floats you for a day," Lesnik said. Dancers, an opera singer, a vaudevillian and a children's theater troupe are the next artists scheduled to visit schools. Last year, Classroom Connections reached approximately 2,000 students. That number is expected to triple this year, Lesnik said.		Teacher addresses school crowding   Journalism class alarms faculty   Fliers on buildings removed   Children learn from Carpenter Center artists   TV won't teach reading   Religious favoritism in Congress   Community service helps career goals   Singer creates average attempt   Club Hockey team Clubbed in Colorado   Pac-10 football has mixed reviews Fall 99 ISSUES  DAILY 49ER HOMEPAGE
Forty-Niner Publications,  Department of Journalism, California State University, Long Beach  ©1999 All rights reserved.