ACTORS READING WITH KIDS Summer Program Now Enrolling in Union, NJ
The Theater Project and Union Public Library offer free weekly Zoom sessions for grades 2–6.
Registration for Actors Reading with Kids (ARK), a summer program by The Theater Project and Union Public Library, is now open.
Twelve students in grades two through six will be paired with working actors for weekly sessions over Zoom in July and August. They will work on reading aloud, vocabulary, and comprehension. Each session will last approximately forty-five minutes. The program, which accepts applications on a first-come-first-served basis, is free to parents thanks to the generosity of the Friends of the Union Public Library.
As an example of ARK's success, Spina cited the story of eight-year-old Union resident Simon, who took part in the 2025 program, working with Gary Glor, actor and The Theater Project's general manager. Simon's teachers had given him an assignment: memorize and recite an anonymous poem titled “A Smile.” He had always felt uncomfortable reading aloud in class. Simon and Mr. Gary, as he called his tutor, worked together to give him the confidence to stand in front of a group of teacher adjudicators and present the poem's eight lines. The teachers selected him to recite the poem two weeks later in the school's speech showcase. He brought home a blue ribbon. According to Simon, “It's because Mr. Gary helped me.”
ARK was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The Theater Project and Union Township Library brainstormed about how actors who would normally have been preparing to appear on stage could use their skills to benefit the community. The program evolved from the realization that acting and teaching have a lot in common.
For further information about ARK, visit https://www.thetheaterproject.org/actors-reading-with-kids.
In addition to Actors Reading with Kids and its summer season of plays produced in Union Township's new DMK Theatre, The Theater Project sponsors playwrighting programs for adults and high-school students, performance workshops for kids and seniors, a podcast series, and interactive theater programs about social issues.
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