Making Connections is an after school and summer program for children in St. Ignatius, Montana. It was started as a community-based project with the express goal of creating fun learning activities that work to create a healthy and supportive web of social, cultural, environmental, and academic connections for the participants. Children are our community’s greatest resource, and we feel that the community setting is a largely under-utilized educational arena.
Making Connections sponsors youth development activities that foster: strong cultural identities; family empowerment; relevance, choice, and joy in learning; self-expression; planning for the future; and healthy behavioral and life-style choices.
Arts programs—such as the writing courses and photography led by, Jennifer K. Greene, Sheryl Noethe and David J. Spear—are a critical component of our programming.
While community-based sports and recreation programs attract the greatest numbers of students across the United States, research has shown that it is the arts programs, which ultimately have the deepest impact on participants.
Through the Pictures & Words summer arts course at St. Ignatius, students have enhanced their self-image and cultural identity through self-expression as well as their awareness and appreciation for the natural world around them. Instructors have helped the students connect their inner world with what they see in the external world surrounding them. Along with this have come strengthened ties to the community in which they live.
Making Connections is funded through a 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant.
Hal Schmid Making Connections Coordinator
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