Gettysburg Free After School Program Announced for Fall 2017

Gettysburg Community Theatre, the non-profit 501c3 organization located in the original Elks Lodge building at 49 York Street within the first block of Lincoln Square in historic downtown Gettysburg, will be once again offer a FREE After-School Program at GCT for students in 1st through 8th Grades from any school district. The program will begin August 22nd and will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays between the hours of 2:30-6pm. Interested parents can email Chad@GettysburgCommunityTheatre.org for the application to sign up for this FREE program.

While this program is free to anyone from any school district, students at Lincoln Elementary and Gettysburg Area Middle School can actually be picked up by GCT staff after school bell and walked over to GCT, but parents will need to provide transportation to home at end of the program day, and parents of students at any other campus must provide their own transportation both to and from the program. Many parents of Gettysburg Area School District are already speaking to their school district transportation services to arrange their child's bus schedule to drop their child off at local bus stop at St. James Lutheran Church just two doors down from GCT, where children will be met by a GCT staff member to walk them to the GCT program two doors away. GCT recognizes that there is a low income community here in Adams County that may be in need of such a free after-school program and GCT is serving its mission by offering this program.

"Kids need a safe, supervised place to go after school", says GCT Founding Executive/Artistic Director, Chad-Alan Carr, "to relax with a book, do homework, socialize with other kids from other grades, and also have supervised activities and games. Parents can continue their work day, run errands, get groceries etc, and then return to sign their child out any time before 6pm to head home to be with the family. Parents need a break too and kids need to be off the streets and doing something productive rather than lounging on the couch in front of the TV all afternoon."

Having had a successful Theatre Arts Educational program offering classes, workshops and summer day camps since 2009 to children and adults, GCT feels that Theatre Arts is a perfect fit for an after-school program because it utilizes so many different things. From literature to painting scenery, from music to dance, from improvisation/creative dramatics to interactive games that work on team building, confidence, and public speaking, this new FREE after school program at GCT will incorporate all of this and more. The after-school program will also include a snack bar where everything is .50 or less and students are encouraged to save money and use math skills to make correct change, to a quiet room for homework and reading books, to instructors that are retired or current public school teachers that can answer questions to help kids with their homework assignments before they go home for dinner.

To help support this new FREE after school program, tax-deductible donations can be made at any time of year to GCT's Taylor Zimmerman Memorial Scholarship Fund. The Scholarship was formed over five years ago when a former student of Chad-Alan Carr's from Bermudian Springs High School tragically lost his life due to a car accident. The Zimmerman family and Carr created the Memorial Scholarship in Taylor Zimmerman's name, and the fund has been enriching the lives of many students through theatre arts every year at GCT. A small portion of the expenses for this program are also covered in part by the Adams County Arts Council STAR Grant.

All of GCT's faculty/staff/volunteers have the required background checks to be able to work with children and there are many educational, performing, and volunteer opportunities year round at GCT for youth, adults, senior citizens, and people with special needs/disabilities. More information about GCT can be found online at www.GettysburgCommunityTheatre.org

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