FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- 2/15/09
Morgan Arts Council • Berkeley Springs, WV
press contact only: Mary Hott - 304-258-2300
www.macicehouse.org
 
SATURDAY ARTS CLASSES FOR TOTS IN BERKELEY SPRINGS
 
BERKELEY SPRINGS, WV ---- All children from birth to five are now able 
to participate in a new series of Art From the Start Saturday morning 
workshops at the Ice House in Berkeley Springs. A four-week segment 
begins on Saturday, February 21 from 9 to 10am. A parent is part of 
the workshop program.
 
The workshops are multi-media and designed to take parent and child on 
a creative journey of discovery and exploration of storytelling, 
music, movement, craft and puppetry. The Morgan Arts Council (MAC) 
has two new workshop teachers for the series.
 
Jennie Landis has been a popular teacher in MAC's afterschool program 
for the past several months. "This is a winter play class for the 
family, " says the exuberant Landis. " Families will leave the class 
and with tools and ideas on how to continue the positive play together 
at home." Along with her art credentials, Landis is also a 
certified Montessori teacher.
 
Landis is joined by Sumayah Houston who teaches at a Waldorf-inspired 
pre-school in nearby Warfordsburg and has done graduate work in 
experiential education at Mankto State University in Minnesota. Like 
Landis, Sumayah emphasizes the creative play aspect of the workshops. 
"We'll be using simple songs, stories, movement and repetition to 
engage the children and their bodies.
 
"If this proves popular, we're planning to stage a second segment of 
four classes," says Mary Hott, Executive Director of MAC.
 
Art from the Start is a joint project of MAC, Starting Points and 
Shenandoah Women's Health with funding support from the United Way. 
Funding from a West Virginia Children's Trust Fund grant allows the 
workshops to be offered to the general public on a sliding scale.
 
For more information contact either 304-258-2300 or 258-5600. The Ice 
House is located at Independence and Mercer in downtown Berkeley 
Springs.