Students build social skills at unique music/art camp

This summer you might find kids sitting in a drum circle working together to create music. The next hour, you might see them standing around a table creating a sculpture together and presenting it to their class.
 
These kids all have one thing in common: a social skills camp collaboration between Melodic Connections and Visionaries + Voices.
 
The camp is designed to give kids with different types of special learning needs a place where they can practice their social skills in a structured environment. The camps prevents a “summer slide” that often happens between academic school years, when a child's mind sits idle during the summer months and loses valuable reading and social skills. 
 
“This summer was loaded with all of these awesome creative mediums for kids to be their silly selves together and thrive but really have some structured practice at the same time,” says Betsey Nuseibeh, executive director of Melodic Connections. “They learn how to work together and work on making friends but also finding out what that means and looks like.”

In the past, kids had the opportunity to work on their social skills through music and art. This year, yoga and dance were added to the agenda. Ensemble Theatre also had a hand in this summer's round of one-week camp sessions. 
 
The summer social skills camp is a place for kids to not only show off their abilities but to also take that camp experience and use it to create more positive experiences in their lives, Nuseibeh says. 
 
Do Good:

• Melodic Connections is always looking for volunteers.

• Be a Facebook friend of Melodic Connections and Visionaries + Voices.

• Donate to help Visionaries + Voices' mission.