Spots going fast for March camps at Firehouse Cultural Center
By PENNY FLETCHER
How can students interested in art, theatre and science spend their summer widening their horizons?
At the Ruskin Firehouse Cultural Center, that’s how — but they’d better register soon.
“Some of the camps fill up very quickly,” said Georgia Vahue, executive director of the center. “We’ve grown each year since starting in 2013. Now students need to sign up starting March 1 because slots go so fast. They can pay for one week or all summer. There is a discount for signing up for the whole time, and scholarships are provided by the Apollo Beach, Ruskin and Sun City Center woman’s clubs, as well as from individual donors, so that no deserving student is left out.”
Vahue has a system for determining who should get the scholarships because of her background at the Great Neck School of Visual & Performing Arts in New York, and receiving a J. William Fulbright Scholarship to study art and design in England.
Because of her experience, she has seen both ends of the spectrum with students who want to register for scholarships to attend without cost.
Her reasons for proving necessity come down to fraud and sincerity.
“Once (in New York) I saw someone in a mink coat try and register a child for free and then get into a Mercedes,” she said. “Then, there’s the other side. In the last few years here I have received letters from children that bring me to tears. One in particular I will never forget is one that said ‘my sister and I are being raised by my grandmother because my mother is on drugs and couldn’t take care of us anymore.’”
According to Vahue, there are a lot of children in South County who deserve to attend the Firehouse camps. As a former teacher at Wimauma Elementary School, she said she knows the arts have made tremendous differences in people’s lives.
“I was known at Wimauma in the ’90s as Mrs. Conaway,” she told me. “In 2014, while I was here at the Firehouse, a man came up to me and said, ‘Don’t I know you from somewhere? My mom was a secretary at Wimauma Elementary School. I’m Louis! I used to come into your classroom every day after school and you’d let me draw.”’
Vahue said Louis, now grown, makes his living as a graphic designer.
Criteria for a scholarship is: A student must receive reduced or free lunch from their school and write a paragraph on why he or she wants to attend. Those in home or private schools must produce a letter from a counselor, teacher or member of the clergy attesting to need.
“This way those who really need scholarships are served,” she said.
From their first camp in 2013, which lasted three weeks, it has grown each summer and in 2017 will last for nine weeks.
“Schools get out earlier. We want to reach more students. The ages are from 8 to 14. We serve a morning and afternoon snack and ask them to bring a brown-bag lunch.”
All students from South County are welcome. This includes Wimauma, Sun City, Sun City Center, Ruskin, Apollo Beach, Gibsonton and Riverview.
“Every year I see more children being raised by their grandparents. More and more, we need people to support these scholarships,” she said. “As a former arts teacher in Wimauma, I felt I made a positive difference in so many students’ lives. I have a real love for South County.”
Vahue grew up in Tampa, moved to New York with her husband Milton when he was transferred, but said she has come home and knows the people here who can influence the campers in the best possible way.
She has signed on qualified instructors who will present a positive influence on every camper.
In June, Jason and Holly Talley will be presenting musical theater – acting, stage performance, and backstage jobs – each week, and presenting a program for parents every Friday.
“Holly is a drama and English teacher at Lennard High School,” Vahue said. “It is amazing that every week they do everything that makes a performance, including costumes and scenery as well as the show itself. What I like best is when the kids come in shy and get real self-confidence.”
People may sign up for one week or for the entire June camp. They may also sign up for one week or more of each of the other camps, or for the whole summer. Details on how to do this will be listed at the end of this story.
The fifth week will be drawing, painting and watercolor. Will Talenti, who teaches at Progress Village Magnet School for the Arts, and Barry Goodman, who is a freelance artist, British printmaker and watercolorist, will be in charge.
“I loved a letter I got from one student who will be coming,” Vahue said. It read: “I love art, not just any art, but to learn from a London teacher with a British, Harry Potter accent. How cool!”
Weeks six and seven are cartooning and animation, where campers will bring their favorite characters to life or create their own, using software, and then create a comic strip and animation movie.
Software will also be used in the last two weeks of camp when robotics will be the subject. “Robotics fills up so fast. If people wait they won’t get a spot,” Vahue said. “We use software and Lego Mindstorms. Each student builds their [sic] own robot using these tools and other software. They work in small teams so they learn teamwork and social skills too.”
“More and more girls are getting into robotics,” Vahue added. “This is no longer a ‘boys-only’ thing.”
To register, visit www.firehouseculturalcenter.org. Payment may be made by PayPal or credit card on the site. Full tuition (without scholarship) is $125 a week for Firehouse members and $140 for nonmembers. Hours are from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. with drop-off at 8:30 a.m. After-care options are also available for a fee.