If you visit Follow Your Art Community Studios during the summer, the experience is different from any other time of year. The rooms downstairs are filled with the noise, color, and mess associated with a large group of kids doing art projects, led by the caring and wildly creative studio staff who are choreographing the chaos.
Look more closely, and you’ll see another important element of our summers at FYACS: our teen staff. Each summer, FYACS welcomes dozens of teens for summer employment through our Create Your Opportunity program. Many, but not all, of the teens have been a part of the FYACS family for years, having come up through our programming themselves.
Our Teen Staff Make Summer Special
Summer staff receive extensive training on how to create a safe and welcoming experience for our young participants, some of whom may need adaptive assistance to fully participate. They are given the tools and ongoing support to help to engage with the hundreds of K-5 kids who take part in our summer programming. Teens guide the students through the art stations during Summer Studio, support with the costumes and logistics in Imagination Stage, help with set up and clean up, keep everyone safe during breaks and lunch bunch, and add a dash of fun to everything we do.
Our teen staff is integral to our summer and we couldn’t do it without them. Thank you!
Through the Create Your Opportunity Program at Follow Your Art Community Studios, high school students who want to work with younger children and/or engage more deeply in the creative arts can find guidance, mentorship, and paid employment. There are also opportunities for high school students to engage during the school year, as studio assistants, interns, and volunteers.