The Mat Bevel Company and the Patagonia Creative Arts Assn. (PCAA) have organized free Friday programs for kids in response to the Patagonia School Districts’ new four-day school week schedule that commenced on July 31.
Last January the two school boards voted to switch to a four-day week for the elementary and high schools in Patagonia. Previously Fridays were a half-day with early dismissal.
“A four-day week is a great tool to retain and recruit teachers,” Patagonia Superintendent/Principal Kenny Hayes said. “Hopefully, it will reduce our student absenteeism problem on Fridays, and consequently students will miss fewer days. There have been no other changes to the school schedule. Monday through Thursday, everything remains the same as last school year. Student athletes will continue to provide their own transportation for any weekend sports.”
For many families, the new schedule has provided a new challenge: finding creative, safe, supervised activities to keep their kids occupied on the now school-free Friday mornings.
To help meet that need, the PCAA and the Mat Bevel Company are offering Friday programs for the community’s kids. (Patagonia’s Youth Enrichment Center will not be offering a Friday morning program because Anna Coleman, the Center’s Director teaches at the Elgin School which continues with a five-day week.)
At PCAA, ‘Art Makers,’ a free art workshop program that’s been running for more than 15 years, is being offered on Fridays from 9am to 11am. Kids from kindergarten through fifth grade can participate in the mixed media, drop-in (no registration required) workshops, which are being led by instructor Ash Jacobs, who has been working with PCAA and the Patagonia schools for the past two years. Jacobs, said she is “excited to be in charge of this new venture for the PCAA.”
Snacks and sandwich makings are available for Friday morning ‘Art Makers’ participants. PCAA will continue to offer Art Makers after school on Mondays from 4:00-5:30 pm, taught by Anita Clovesko.
‘Wharton Club Theater,’ an ongoing free PCAA program for ages 9 and up, will start up again this school year at noon on Fridays, beginning in September. Registration for this program, directed by Cassina Farley, is required and will be announced soon.
The Mat Bevel Company will host ‘The Art of Kinetics’ at the Patagonia Volunteer Fire & Rescue upstairs loft from September 13 to December 6, 2024. This second unit of ‘The Universe Within’ STEAM world-building program is available to all students in grades 4-8 on Fridays from 9 am – noon.
“There is no cost for students to participate in this science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM) world-building program,” said Paula Schaper, Multimedia Program Director for the Mat Bevel Company of Tucson.
Unit 1 of the Universe Within was offered at the library this past spring. This fall’s program, Unit 2, is titled “The Art of Kinetics” and focuses on motion. Participants will each write their own “planetary storybook,” which will be published and available to the public at the library.
Registration is required for this FREE program. To sign-up visit: https://the-universe-within.org/the-art-of-kinetics-sign-up/ Or contact Paula Schaper: 520-604-6273 or pschaper@matbevelcompany.org.