"We're very excited to introduce Jenny Landis as a new visual art teacher for the youngest students," said Mary Hott, MAC's Executive Director. "She has excellent academic credentials in art and is also a certified Montessori teacher." Landis' class for 5 to 8 year olds happens on Tuesdays and will focus on watercolor, painting and drawing. Also on Tuesdays is Tom Brooks' Teen Acting Challenge for ages 12 and older. Both experienced students and beginners can learn from this class. Margi Griffiths teaches Creative Dramatics to children in grades K through 4 on Wednesdays afterschool.

Friday is Trash Art for students 9 and older taught by Jane Ping. This class is an introduction to papermaking using recycled materials like old phone books and junk mail.

Hott explains that the arts provide alternative ways for children to learn and approach the world. " Kids all learn differently" she says. "Art helps teach them not only creative thinking but how to think like an individual, " she says. Classes begin the week of September 22 and extend for eight sessions. Registrations are now being taken.

All classes in the afterschool program are held from 3:30-5pm in the Ice House. Several school buses stop at the Ice House located at Independence and Mercer. Registration flyers are available on www.macicehouse.org and may be picked up at the Morgan County Public Library and Boys and Girls Club. Call 258-2300 for more information or to receive registration forms in the mail. Scholarships are available on a sliding-fee scale to cover partial tuition. There are also sibling discounts, and multi-class discounts for a single student. Tuition covers all snacks, materials, 8 weeks of instruction, and a final recital.

MAC's highly praised Ice HouseYouth Art Project is starting its ninth school year and is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, West Virginia Commission on the Arts, local hotel/motel tax funds and donations from MAC members. MAC is a United Way Agency.