Tag Archives: Ann Arbor Community Education and Recreation Department

Burns Park Players presents ‘How to Succeed in Business …’

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February performances to benefit Ann Arbor Public Schools students

From the Burns Park Players

The Burns Park Players gets ahead again this season with Frank Loesser, Jack Weinstock, Willie Gilbert, and Abe Burrows’s classic musical “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

Burns Park Players

The Burns Park Players presents "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." (Photo courtesy, Myra Klarman and the Burns Park Players)

With a cast and crew of 170, the annual Burns Park Players production raises money for the Ann Arbor Public Schools and involves dozens of residents from around Burns Park Elementary School.

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 4; Saturday, Feb. 5; Thursday, Feb. 10; and Friday, Feb. 11. and at  4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb 12. All shows are at the Tappan Middle School Auditorium, 2251 E. Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor.  The final dress rehearsal is also open to the public on Thursday, Feb. 3; rehearsal performance begins at 7:30.

Ticket sales begin at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan.19. Reserved seating tickets are available for $15 at Morgan and York Market, 1928 Packard, Ann Arbor, or at the door one hour before the show. Premium seating tickets (which include reserved parking) are available for $30.  For information on purchasing premium tickets, call Ken Kollman at 734-478-0449.

Tickets for the dress rehearsal are $5 and available at the door only, beginning at 7 p.m.

Originally produced on Broadway in 1961, “How to Succeed …” ran for 1,417 performances and won seven Tony Awards.  In 1995 a revival starring Matthew Broderick and Megan Mullally ran for 548 performances, and a new revival is slated to open in March, 2011, starring Daniel Radcliffe.  Its songs, with music and lyrics written by Frank Loesser, include such hits as “I Believe in You” and “Brotherhood of Man.”

As the show opens in its New York setting, window washer J. Pierpont Finch happens upon the book “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” and, following its instructions, lands a job in the mailroom and begins to work his way up the corporate ladder of WWWC.  Thanks to the book, Finch is rapidly promoted, outsmarts Bud Frump, and even secures secretary Rosemary Pilkington’s love.  But when his major advertising campaign goes awry, not even his trusty book can save him.

Community members from the Burns Park area are involved with the production ranging in age from 6 to 91.  Featured performers include Caroline Huntoon, Jeffrey Post, Ben Cohen, Lisa Harris, Fred Hall, Aviva Simonte, Talia Glass and Joel Swanson.

Longtime Detroit-area air personality Dick Purtan will make a special voice appearance.  And, in keeping with Burns Park Players tradition, more than 100 students from Burns Park Elementary School also are featured in the cast.

As in years past, proceeds from this show will benefit performing arts in the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Since its inception, the Burns Park Players has contributed more than $245,000 to the district and its students. Past contributions have included:

  • Ann Arbor Rec & Ed scholarship support for performing arts and camps,
  • Financial support for Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation Teacher Grants fund and
  • $5,000 per year to support private instrumental music lessons provided by Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts for talented middle school students who could not otherwise afford them.

Directing this year’s production is Mike Mosallam, the music director is Eric Lofstrom and choreographers are Mike Mosallam and Christie Schauder.  The musical is produced by Debi Haller, Kathy Koehler and Sara Meingast.

The Burns Park Players was formed in 1984 by a small group of parents looking for a way to raise money to send their Burns Park Elementary School children to camp. Since that time, the group has grown into an active and unique community theater company that has maintained it original commitment to family-oriented musical productions.

To find out more about the group, visit www.burnsparkplayers.org.

Ready or not, here comes a summer of fun at Rec & Ed camps

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Green Adventures Camp draws on kids’ love of outdoors

By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service

This will be another summer for kids to learn about the environment, catch crayfish and bugs and work in a community garden that helps raise food for the local hunger-relief agency, Food Gatherers.

Campers help grow and harvest in community gardens in Green Adventures Camp. (Photos courtesy, John Stahly)

The popular Green Adventures Camp is being offered for a third year in The Ann Arbor Public Schools.

“This one’s special because it’s very much hands-on and our focus is on the environment,” said Robin Schultz-Purves, community education coordinator who organizes the camp for the Community Education and Recreation Department, also known as Rec & Ed. “This gives them a chance to think about things in a different way. I think they just absorb so much.”

The camp is Rec & Ed’s newest camp offering. It features morning classroom time with certified teachers Jane Levy and Will Wright, combined with field experiences in the afternoon led by the district’s Environmental Education staff Dave Szczygiel and John Stahly.

The program is designed to be fun and academically enriching, said Schultz-Purves. She said the camp was started as a way to maintain a camp approach, but offer some real learning as well.

This year’s program has been moved from Allen Elementary to Lakewood Elementary, where campers will have the nearby Lakewood Woods and the Dolph Nature Area to explore.

“Kids really respond to being outdoors and visiting wild areas,” said Stahly, who, along with Szczygiel, leads children on afternoon excursions to area parks, woodlands and to work in community gardens. “Our society has narrowed and narrowed and narrowed kids’ time, so that many don’t get the opportunity to get outdoors much.”

Campers explore the outdoors, anywhere and everywhere.

Activities this year will include bee keeping and gardening, as well as preparing and eating the “fruits of our labor,” Shultz-Purves said. Last year, 115 pounds of fresh produce from Green Adventures gardens was donated to Food Gatherers.

Stahly said kids’ favorite camp activity involves getting wet.

“They love to get in the water and try to catch bugs and catch crayfish,” he said. Stahly said he was also surprised at how much they enjoy some of the tasks that are part of camp. “They love to work in the garden and cut brush in the park. They take ownership in it,” he said. “We emphasize that they are doing real work.”

Children will work in a garden at the Lakewood site, as well as in a larger garden on the Richard Raynor property near Frains Lake, where the program also keeps honey bees for the program.

Part of the Green Adventures Camp entails morning lessons on outdoor topics. Campers then spend their afternoons exploring on field trips.

Schultz-Purves stresses that the district and the program take all measures of safety into account, especially in programs such as this one that takes students off site to be in the field.

The camp is organized into eight weekly sessions, each with a specified theme dealing with water quality, sustainable agriculture, caring for the Earth or exploring the environment. Themes include: How Our Garden Grows, Befriending the Bees, H2OhMy!, Wild Waterways, Growing Green, The Secret Life of Trash, Wild Ann Arbor and Critters About Town.

Parents can register a child for any of the sessions. For information, see the Rec & Ed 2010 Summer Camps catalog or visit http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/reced.greencamp/green_adventures_camp. Any child enrolled for 5 or more weeks purchased in one transaction will get a multi-week discount of 10 percent off of the total camp cost.

The Green Adventures Camp programs are among 200 summer camp options offered to youths aged 3-17. Organizers suggest parents enroll “as soon as possible” but registrations are considered on an ongoing basis, depending on space. Camps take place in various schools around the district as well as area parks and other community locations.

Scholarships are available to Ann Arbor district families with financial need. For information see the catalog or visit: http://reced.aaps.k12.mi.us/reced.home/scholarships.  The Community Education and Recreation Department recently moved and is now located on the south end of Pioneer High School, at 1515 S. Seventh Street, between Stadium Boulevard and Scio Church Road.

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List of available Rec & Ed camps and links:

Dance, Art and Drama Camps – Includes a variety of  cultural arts-themed camps, including all kinds of dance and art classes as well as “Shakespeare in the Arb” camp, a one-week session that focuses on Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream with the University of Michigan Residential College’s Players and faculty.

Green Adventures Camp – Classroom time with certified teachers in the morning, combined with fun in the field in the afternoon, offer a program that is fun and academically enriching. Students work and plant in gardens, hike, canoe and do lots of outdoor activities.

Literature & Academic Enrichment – includes everything from “kidconomics,” math and writing  to Harry Potter Camp, Janapese Animé Camp and Star Wars Camp.

Music Camps – Include camps for guitar, percussion, jazz and a Rock Band Boot Camp.

Preschool Summer Camps – A themed Itsy Bitsy Campers, Spanish and French language,  Art Around Ann Arbor and Safety Town are just some of the camps offered for children aged 3-6.

Quest Camp – Morning only or full days for students who will attend elementary school in the fall. Programs include everything from backyard games, art and sports to Asian Folk Dance, working with beads and clay and exploring physics of flight by creating flying toys such as boomerangs.

Safety Town & Camp – Those ready for fall kindergarten are invited to Safety Town, a popular program where children learn safety awareness in a fun and entertaining way using a child-size mock Ann Arbor “town” explored on bikes.

Sports Camps – Basketball, football, soccer, lacrosse, fitness, bowling and multi-sports among many more offerings. Take your pick. All levels of experience welcome.

T-N-T (Teens N Transition) – For kids entering grades 6-8, this camp has specialty programs such as dodgeball, hiking, art, garage band, magic and robotics; afternoon activities include Teen Center, swimming and field trips to such spots as Cedar Point and local attractions.

‘Early bird’ summer camp registration under way

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Thinking about what kids will do with their summer?

“Early-bird” discounts are being offered through May 9 to parents who sign their children up for Ann Arbor Public Schools summer camp programs. In addition, any child enrolled in a full-day camp for 5 or more weeks in one transaction will get multi-week discount of 10 percent off of the total camp cost.

Some 200 summer camp options are offered to youths aged 3-17 through the district’s Community Education and Recreation Department. Organizers suggest parents consider camps and enroll as soon as possible, but registrations are considered on an ongoing basis, depending on space. Camps take place in various schools around the district as well as area parks and several other community locations.

Camps are fee-based. Scholarships are available to families within the Ann Arbor district that have financial need. For information see the catalog or click here.

The Community Education and Recreation Department has moved and is now located on the south end of Pioneer High School, at 1515 S. Seventh Street, between Stadium Boulevard and Scio Church Road.

The AAPSNews will feature a story about the Green Adventures Camp in the May 10 edition.

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List of available camps and links:

Dance, Art and Drama Camps – Includes a variety of  cultural arts-themed camps, including all kinds of dance and art classes as well as “Shakespeare in the Arb” camp, a one-week session that focuses on Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream with the University of Michigan Residential College’s Players and faculty.

Green Adventures Camp – Classroom time with certified teachers in the morning, combined with fun in the field in the afternoon, offer a program that is fun and academically enriching. Students work and plant in gardens, hike, canoe and do lots of outdoor activities.

Literature & Academic Enrichment – includes everything from “kidconomics,” math and writing  to Harry Potter Camp, Janapese Animé Camp and Star Wars Camp.

Music Camps – Include camps for guitar, percussion, jazz and a Rock Band Boot Camp.

Preschool Summer Camps – A themed Itsy Bitsy Campers, Spanish and French language,  Art Around Ann Arbor and Safety Town are just some of the camps offered for children aged 3-6.

Quest Camp – Morning only or full days for students who will attend elementary school in the fall. Programs include everything from backyard games, art and sports to Asian Folk Dance, working with beads and clay and exploring physics of flight by creating flying toys such as boomerangs.

Safety Town & Camp – Those ready for fall kindergarten are invited to Safety Town, a popular program where children learn safety awareness in a fun and entertaining way using a child-size mock Ann Arbor “town” explored on bikes.

Sports Camps – Basketball, football, soccer, lacrosse, fitness, bowling and multi-sports among many more offerings. Take your pick. All levels of experience welcome.

T-N-T (Teens N Transition) – For kids entering grades 6-8, this camp has specialty programs such as dodgeball, hiking, art, garage band, magic and robotics; afternoon activities include Teen Center, swimming and field trips to such spots as Cedar Point and local attractions.

Singers join in to keep Ann Arbor Civic Chorus a popular club

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Members of the Ann Arbor Civic Chorus at a recent Monday night practice.

Members of the Ann Arbor Civic Chorus at a recent Monday night practice.


Ann Arbor Civic Chorus Spring Concert
When: 3 p.m., Sunday, April 25
Where: Forsythe Middle School Auditorium, 1655 Newport Road.
Cost: Free.
Details: http://reced.aaps.k12.mi.us
Other: The chorus rehearses weekly on Mondays from 7-9 p.m. at Slauson Middle School. Light classical pieces, standards, and selections from the Broadway stage are performed. Placement interviews are required to participate; call Linda Jones at (734) 761-2497.

By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service

When Evan Padgitt is away from his singing, he admits “there’s something missing.” The Ann Arbor resident sings in multiple choral groups, including the 27-year-old Ann Arbor Civic Chorus.

“There’s something about music that relaxes and releases stress,” said Padgitt, who works as a nurse practitioner by day. He has participated in the Civic Chorus in both the fall and winter since 1991, and said during the summer months “I get a little crabby without it.”

The other thing that keeps him coming back, he said, are the friendships that develop over time; many chorus members go to dinner together on Monday nights after practice.

Run by the Ann Arbor Public Schools Community Education and Recreation Department, the program has offered Ann Arbor-area residents a chance to sing their hearts out since 1983. It is run as a class, costing $185 per year for residents or $215 per year for non-residents. Singers can also sign up by semester for $95 for residents or $114 for non-residents.

Although the 60-member chorus is a longstanding tradition in Ann Arbor, this year it has a new musical director, Linda Jones, a new accompanist, Ted Wyman, and several new voices.

Linda Jones leads the Civic Chorus in rehearsal, which takes place every Monday evening at Slauson Middle School.

Linda Jones leads the Civic Chorus in rehearsal, which takes place every Monday evening at Slauson Middle School.


“I love it – It’s ideal for me,” said Jones, an Ypsilanti Public Schools music teacher who also has served as a choir director at several area churches and teaches private voice, piano and guitar lessons. “It gives people in the community a chance to come together who enjoy singing. My goal is to help the singers improve their singing ñ their tonal production. I want them to work well together, to sing well together.”

She called the group “the most committed, proactive group of singers I’ve ever been with.”

Jones has gotten comfortable with the job quickly, said Linda Brzezinski, community service supervisor for Community Education and Recreation, who coordinates the program.”She’s willing to work with just about anybody.”

Ruth Kenny founded the group and directed it for seven years. Rebecca Vlisides then took over, directing the group for 19 years before stepping down last spring. “We owe a lot to Rebecca, but Linda has put her own special stamp on it,” Padgitt added.

Singers range in age and Brzezinski said anyone 18 and older with some previous choral background can become part of the chorus.

Another longtime member is Mary Beth Seiler, director of Greek Life for the University of Michigan, who has been with the group since 1990. “It’s a fun group,” she said. The enjoyment “becomes the people after such a long time. But it’s the music too. I call it my therapy. ”

Civic Chorus members practice a variety of songs as they prepare for a spring concert. Both annual concerts by the group are free.

Civic Chorus members practice a variety of songs as they prepare for a spring concert. Both annual concerts by the group are free.

At a recent Monday rehearsal, two new members joined. Soprano Liz Houts had not had a singing outlet since she graduated from college five years ago. She tried singing with the University Musical Society, but said the group was too large for her liking. She thinks the Civic Chorus will provide what she’s looking for. “I have high hopes,” she said.

The chorus performs two free concerts for the community each year: One in December and the other in the spring. The next concert is scheduled for Sunday, April 25 at 3 p.m. at Forsythe Middle School.

“I think the whole point of community education is to create an opportunity for the community to enrich themselves in some way,” Brzezinski added. “This is the perfect example of that. We’ve been able to give the chorus a long, ongoing life.”

Casey Hans edits this newsletter for The Ann Arbor Public Schools. E-mail her or call 734-994-5090 ext. 51228.

‘Glee’ brings attention to community singers

From AAPSNews Service

The Ann Arbor Civic Chorus has received national attention this singing season, thanks to the Fox musical comedy “Glee,” which depicts one man’s efforts to save a high school glee club. Its story line and sound track have gathered a loyal group of followers.
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The show has also jump-started interest in chorus groups and has prompted, at least some, to tune up their vocal chords. Following a fall/winter hiatus, the Fox show is scheduled to return to the air on April 12.

Cynthia D’Amour, a leadership strategist with People Power Unlimited in Ann Arbor, was inspired to join the group after watching “Glee” and blogged about her experience She was subseuently interviewed by Time Magazine (The ‘Glee’ Factor: A Rise in Amateur Singing Groups 12/9/2009) and the information also was picked up by USA Today.

Although D’Amour’s travel schedule has prohibited her from participating this winter, she enjoyed participating last fall. “Singing with Civic Chorus was like a mental massage for me,” she said.

D’Amour said she enjoyed Linda Jones, the group’s new director. “She’s got a fun sense of humor and I learned more from her in a few weeks than I had learned about my voice in along time,” she said. “I do a lot of Webinars as part of my work. Applying what I learned from Linda helped to warm up my voice and increase the musicality as I spoke. My clients noticed – which surprised me and was a neat side benefit.

” ‘Glee’ motivated me to get back in a singing group and my time with the Civic Chorus helped me remember how much I love to sing,” she added. “I’m now working on bringing more music back into my life – which makes everything more fun!”

Rec & Ed gets new home at Pioneer

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From AAPSNews Service

When the Ann Arbor Community Education and Recreation Department moves into different offices this week, the program will be more centrally located to serve residents and it will save money on rent.

Sara Aeshbach visits the space undergoing renovation at Pioneer High School that will become the new home for Community Education and Recreation. The department opens there on Feb. 2.

Sara Aeshbach visits the space undergoing renovation at Pioneer High School that will become the new home for Community Education and Recreation. The department opens there on Feb. 2.


The busy department has moved from rented office space south of Eisenhower Parkway to a new location in the “E” Wing of Pioneer High School. Staff will serve residents from offices located on the west side of the building, just off of Seventh Street.

“It’s really helpful to be in school-owned property,” said Sara Aeschbach, director of Community Education and Recreation. “It will be centrally located and so handy for people.”

About 40 staff members will work in the 10-000-square-foot space that was renovated with voter-approved tax dollars from the 2004 bond issue and 2005 sinking fund. It is light and colorful and is designed with pre-fabricated walls which will allow flexibility of space.

Staff will be at the new location to conduct business on Tuesday, Feb. 2 after being closed for several days for the move. Regular hours for the department remain 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, but there will be a 24/7 drop box available in the lobby area for customers to drop off registrations.

Aeschbach said the move also puts the department within the Pioneer community, where many class offerings take place. “It will help our relations with Pioneer staff and allow us to work out arrangements better,” she added.

The Pioneer location also gives the department a permanent home. Before moving to the Eisenhower Place location 4 1/2 years ago, the staff had been housed in a variety of locations including Allen and Lawton elementary schools, Stone School, the former Balas III building and in former district-owned space on North Maple Road.

She said the new space will give the department a place to store sports equipment for classes and leagues, which has in the recent past been stored at the Balas Administration Building on State Street.

Aeschbach said her department is different than others in the district because it serves such a wide variety of people. “I like people to know this is the part of the school district that serves the entire community, from newborns all the way up until they are seniors,” she said. “It’s really designed to be something for everybody.”

Community Education and Recreation programs must be able to collect enough money to fund themselves, Aeschbach said. In-kind contributions include use of schools and city parks and office space to operate the programs. Fees are two-tiered: One level is for in-district residents and slightly more is charged to those living out of the Ann Arbor Public Schools who want to take classes. Rental of most AAPS facilities also is handled through this department.

Offerings include a variety of leisure and sports programs and leagues, youth team sports and camps, lifelong learning classes for youth and adults, First Steps, tuition-based preschool and before- and after-school child care programs. Scholarships also are available for low-income residents.

The “E” Wing at Pioneer is accessible off of South Seventh Street between Main Street and Scio Church Road. Visitors will use a new, separate entrance near the tennis courts, which will be well marked with a large rooftop sign. The address is 1515 S. Seventh St., Ann Arbor.

For information, visit the Web or call 734-994-2300. Online registration is also available.

Rec & Ed moving to new wing at Pioneer campus

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The Ann Arbor Public Schools Community Education & Recreation Department will move this month to a new location in the “E” Wing of Pioneer High School, vacating current offices at 1530 Eisenhower Place.

Staff will be at the new location to conduct business on Tuesday, Feb. 2. In preparation for the move, the department will close on Thursday, Jan. 28 and will remain closed until reopening in the new location.

The “E” Wing is accessible off of S. Seventh Street. Visitors will use a new, separate entrance near the tennis courts, which will be well marked with a large rooftop sign. There will be a drop box available 24/7 near the entrance, for those dropping off registrations. Pioneer High School is at 601 W. Stadium Blvd.

For information, click here or call 734-994-2300.