summer programs

Mason Community Arts Academy is doing big things

Shayla Brown — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 19:12:28 +0000

Mason Community Arts Academy is doing big things Shayla Brown Tue, 11/26/2024 - 14:12

��AV’s Mason Community Arts Academy (MCAA) has been named one of the Best Summer Camps by Northern Virginia Magazine every year since 2021.

This summer, the program broke multiple records including the number of student participants at just under 1,900. The Acting for Young People (AFYP) program also broke its attendance record with 950 students.

MCAA, part of the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA), includes summer camps, programs, and workshops that teach local children aged 4-18 in acting and theater, film and video, music, and visual art.

MCAA Children's Choir session. Photo by Matthew Geske.

“We have really honed in on our recruitment process,” said Regina Schneider, MCAA’s marketing and communications coordinator.

The summer program has also grown in its number of staff members. MCAA employees include industry professionals, George Mason alumni and students of all levels, and summer interns, including high school students.

This summer, 42 out of 90 intern applicants were hired, many of which were local high school students, George Mason undergraduate and graduate students, and as well as graduate students from across the country.

MCAA also acts as a major pathway to George Mason for students who often begin the program in elementary school. Some of them go on to become interns and eventually students in CVPA degree programs, said Mary Lechter, executive director of MCAA and professor in the School of Theater.

One of these students is Kaya Thomas, a freshman theater major with a concentration in musical theater. Thomas joined AFYP when she was in seventh grade and participated in the weekend showcase program.

“AFYP guaranteed that I would have something to do in terms of performing. You still go through the audition process, but you’re guaranteed to get in, which was really helpful for my confidence,” said Thomas.

MCAA faculty, staff, and students on the Roger Wilkins Plaza. Photo by Beth Anne Young.

Thomas now works for MCAA as an assistant choreographer teacher with the same program.

Thomas’ experience with the program was huge factor in her decision to attend to George Mason, she said.

“I'm teaching with the people who taught me when I was in middle school and I am getting to work with these kids that aren't super strong dancers yet and watch them grow too,” she said. “I was already connected with people who I had so much in common with and knew so much about these programs. There were also lots of opportunities for growth.”

Next semester, Thomas will be taking on a new role and teaching students in MCAA after school classes.

“I truly believe that you can't start early enough to create that pipeline for students to connect [to our] programs,” said William Lake Jr., director of concert bands and the Dewberry School of Music, who approached Lechter with the idea of starting a summer band camp at George Mason. It started in 2023 and runs for one week every summer.

Students have the option of staying on campus overnight and experiencing what college life is like.

“They’re staying in the dorms, eating the campus food. They have to get themselves up in the morning and practice college routines, which also reduces barriers, and makes the experience less foreign a few years down the road,” said Lake.

“The camp includes a large ensemble experience and students participate in instrument specific master classes with our school of music faculty, which are often their future teachers,” he said.

Summer 2024 saw the debut of the Children’s Choir Camp, headed by Beth Anne Young, director of Kodály at George Mason, which aims to provide children with a comprehensive music education experience.

After three years of planning, the camp was done in conjunction with Side-by-Side, a new course for adult learners who are currently working in the field of music education, and is integrated with the Kodály Levels program, allowing graduate music education students to gain hands-on teaching experience while being mentored by the highly skilled Kodály faculty.

“My dream was to have a program with current teachers from our and other programs, and even alumni could work with the children enrolled in the Children's Choir Camp,” said Young.

Children participating in the MCAA programs. Photo by Beth Anne Young.

Graduate students with the Kodály option come to campus in July for three summers to complete their Kodály Levels in person. Each level includes study in the areas of pedagogy, musicianship, folk song materials and research, conducting/choral studies, choir and special topics, including a one-week Side-by-Side course, which is offered the week before Levels Courses begin.

Kodály at George Mason is fully endorsed by the Organization of American Kodály Educators. The Kodály program also offers opportunities for international students, with participants attending from countries such as Ireland, China, and South Korea.

“The experience to work with children in real time and apply what they are learning about teaching in a Kodály-Inspired classroom is invaluable,” she said.

In This Story

Mary Lechter

Regina Schneider

Learn more about Camps and Youth Programs at George Mason

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education-to-employment pathways

George Mason’s summer forensics camp created a pathway for this rising sophomore

Shayla Brown — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 18:54:29 +0000

George Mason’s summer forensics camp created a pathway for this rising sophomore Shayla Brown Wed, 07/31/2024 - 14:54

Samuel Dalachinsky could have attended college tuition-free in Florida. But his experience at the George Mason Institute of Forensics in the summer of 2022, before his senior year of high school, convinced him to look at ��AV.

Samuel Dalachinsky. Photo provided.

“[The summer institute] definitely helped build a bridge to transition from high school into college for me, so I had a lot of hope in the university,” he said.

For 20 years, the Institute of Forensics has been helping high school students from around the United States practice and improve their speech and presentation skills to become tournament ready. George Mason has one of the top forensics teams in the country and regularly lands in the top five nationally. This is year they placed second out of almost 60 schools at the American Forensics Association Tournament.

The summer institute also brings awareness about the university’s forensics program to potential future students as about 20% of high school students who attend this camp subsequently attend George Mason.

“The camp was such an important experience to me. It let me find this way to radically embrace my identity,” he said.

George Mason’s reputation for inclusiveness in the LGBTQ+ space was supported by Dalanchinsky’s experience at the summer institute.

“I came to camp with the intention of writing an angry piece about how I was feeling, and they showed me all of these beautiful poems written by trans people. It made me reevaluate the way I was thinking about things,” said Dalanchinsky, who is an Honors College student.

College of Humanities and Social Sciences faculty members and forensic team coaches Dawn Lowry and Tyler Watkins, who is also a George Mason alum, mentored Dalanchinsky while he was at the camp.

“Dawn really uplifts me and gives me so much confidence,” said the psychology major. “She had known me for about a week and said that she already knew she wanted me on the [George Mason] team.”

Dalanchinsky’s family had invested in Florida’s Bright Future Scholars program, which would have guaranteed him free in-state tuition, he said. But the forensics team coaches helped him find scholarship opportunities that made it possible for him to attend George Mason, as well as offering him financial aid.

“The coaches definitely helped me out a lot with the scholarship application process,” said Dalanchinsky.

Dalanchinsky, who wants to combine his major in psychology with social justice topics, specifically LGBTQ+ rights, has found the routines and practices taught at the institute helpful in preparing speeches. Dalanchinsky uses research topics and information from his classes at George Mason to write his speeches, which allows him to practice the application of psychology to the LGBTQ+ community, which he hopes to one day do professionally, he said.

“George Mason is very open-minded when it comes to picking your own topics of research and speech,” said Dalanchinsky. “Speech has not only given me confidence with public speaking or communicating with others in general, but also a lot of research abilities, which I think is very important.”

Dalachinsky appreciates the coaching he’s received since joining the George Mason team. “The coaches are very quick to tell you if you come off as a little too quiet, and they get it out of us really quickly,” he said. “They’ve also helped me with networking, and I've gotten to meet some really interesting people throughout the speech circuit.”

Dalachinsky is considering graduate school at George Mason. “I’d love to do graduate assisting coaching for Dawn and Tyler. I think it would be great to continue my education here,” he said.

Start your journey at George Mason

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Summer theater program was a pathway for this student-participant turned teacher

Shayla Brown — Wed, 24 Jul 2024 16:26:51 +0000

Summer theater program was a pathway for this student-participant turned teacher Shayla Brown Wed, 07/24/2024 - 12:26

Lake Rusch’s passion for acting was ignited in seventh grade when they first joined ��AV’s Acting for Young People (AFYP) showcase program. They continued to attend the program throughout high school.

“I was acting with the program for so long and I really loved the environment. AFYP nourished my love for performance so deeply,” Rusch said of their time at the Mason Community Arts Academy Program (MCAA), an organization within the College of Visual and Performing Arts (CVPA) that offers multiple programs and camps to provide children with arts education.

“When I was selecting colleges to apply to, George Mason was in my top three,” said Rusch, now a rising sophomore at George Mason majoring in theater education with a theater performance minor. They also had a connection to George Mason through their mother, Emily Rusch, who is a development associate in CVPA.

In 2019, Rusch became an intern at the camp, and in 2022, they became an assistant teacher for the camp’s participants.

“I’ve had so many different theater education experiences in my life, and after I started working with AFYP, it just clicked that I should go into theater education,” said Rusch.

Lake Rusch. Photo provided.

AFYP offers three kinds of programming—summer camp, showcase programs, and an afterschool program. The programs teach grade school students ages 7-18 about the world of theater and allow participants to experience performing on stage during their spring and fall showcases.

Having a long history with the program means Rusch has seen it evolve over the years, and has the joy of seeing students grow in the program from the youngest to oldest stages.

“The one thing that I've seen change the most is that we are able to rent bigger spaces every year for our showcases,” said Rusch, who will teach part time in the afterschool program this fall.

“Theater education is special because we’re teaching them growth. I want them to learn new skills and help them [take those skills] wherever they want to,” said Rusch.

Rusch is also close with their boss, AFYP founder and artistic director Mary Lechter, who wrote one of Rusch’s letters of recommendation for George Mason.

Lechter was also present during their auditions for the School of Theater.

“It was a combination of factors that made me choose George Mason, but Mary was one of the biggest influences for me. I really liked the school and knowing that I had a paying job in college where I’d be working with Mary was great,” said Rusch.

As AFYP’s artistic director, Lechter says she is able to work with young actors over the course of several years and watch them grow as people and actors.

“I have had the privilege of seeing Lake come into their own over these past few years, expressing confidence in their voice and ideas,” said Lechter.

Lechter said she looks forward to working alongside Rusch for many years to come.  “In addition to Lake being a great person all around, they are a wonderful actor to work with— intuitive, receptive, bold. I can still see each of their performances vividly.”

Rusch’s position as a teacher and administrative intern allows them to guide students the way Lechter and other George Mason faculty guided them.

“There is an element of commitment and accountability that I learned just inherently by being present at the camp that I definitely uphold now, and hope to continue to uphold. That's something that’s going to be really great for teaching later,” they said.

Check out summer arts programs with Mason Community Arts Academy

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Students

Students get a professional boost with Break Through Tech’s Guild program

Rena Malai — Wed, 20 Jul 2022 15:13:01 +0000

Students get a professional boost with Break Through Tech’s Guild program Rena Malai Wed, 07/20/2022 - 11:13

In This Story

Shvetha Soundararajan

Team 6 present their app project during the last day of Guild.

The 2022 Break Through Tech DC summer Guild program at George Mason took place in June. A hybrid approach allowed students to participate remotely, with the last day commencing with an in-person gathering at Dewberry Hall.

About 40 students participated in the Guild at Mason, which included interactive activities, presentations, and team projects. With networking opportunities mixed in, students from underrepresented backgrounds had a chance to do a deeper dive into their computing education and career paths through Guild.

According to Shvetha Soundararajan, Break Through Tech DC site lead at George Mason, the Guild program is intended to encourage women and students from underrepresented groups to explore computing in a meaningful way.

“Through the Guild, we showcase that computing is for all, it is inclusive and accessible, and that there are many more aspects to building software than just coding,” she says.

Guild participants worked in teams to develop an app, and present their work at the end of the week. First place went to team 2, and their app Sign With Me, which teaches preschoolers the alphabet in sign language.

Second place went to team 3 for the app Biome World, that helps educate elementary school students about biomes. Team 6 received third place for their app APventures, an AP level study app designed to feel like an adventure game.

“The 2022 Guild participants worked together in teams to create innovative and unique EdTech apps that are valuable,” says Soundararajan. “They worked very hard to create productivity, study, and collaboration apps for students of different age groups.”

Mason junior Helen Chen says Guild opened up the doors for her to learn coding, and even get in some public speaking practice.

“I was so happy to learn JavaScript and create something with code for the first time,” says Chen. “Presenting our project to the professors and industry leaders was truly an unforgettable experience and I think it might have cured my fear of public speaking a little bit.”

Freshman Anabela Shearer says Guild was a great experience and it helped her feel more confident about pursuing a computing career.

“I was able to meet Mason students who are also pursuing a career in computer science,” says Shearer. “It helped me feel confident in my knowledge of coding. I have never coded before prior to Guild but it was easy for me to catch up with the others who have.”

Mentors from major corporations like Booz Allen Hamilton and Microsoft also attended Guild. According to Gerald Irish, senior software engineer at Microsoft, it’s important to contribute towards building a more inclusive industry for the next group of IT professionals.

“Sometimes we take for granted how we navigated the challenges we faced while moving through the industry, so sharing our experiences can help students from underrepresented groups feel more comfortable navigating those challenges for themselves,” says Irish. “Going forward I hope the mentees we interacted with will use us as a resource for guidance, connections, or just as a sounding board to help them along the way.”

The Break Through Tech Guild program is open to all students with a focus on women and nonbinary individuals who are first and second year students. Students can be enrolled in any major or minor. No prior experience is required to apply for Guild.

“The Guild and other BTT programs would not be possible without the support of our industry partners,” says Soundararajan. “For a second consecutive year, we received overwhelming support from our industry partners and industry mentors from Booz Allen Hamilton, Microsoft, Appian, and Accenture.”

About Break Through Tech 

Break Through Tech works at the intersection of academia and industry to propel more women and underrepresented communities into technology degrees and careers. BTT DC is the first cross-institutional collaboration, partnering with Mason and the University of Maryland. 