The Robinson Community Learning Center (RCLC) provided Better World Books’ very first location to store collected books. We are forever grateful and supportive of their programs. This round of LEAP projects, we’ve awarded them a grant to continue and enhance an effective inner-city youth literacy program that educates its members by reading and performing Shakespeare.

The Robinson Center is proposing to offer a six week intensive summer Shakespeare program for inner city urban youth during summer of 2011. The camp will serve 20-25 inner-city youth between the ages of ten and seventeen, using Romeo and Juliet as the focal work. They will receive instruction in the essentials of theatre through a variety of workshops that include: voice, text analysis, improvisation, Shakespeare studies, movement, theatre games, stage combat, lighting, set, and costume design.

The camp will also include more non-traditional instruction such as T’ai Chi and yoga, which are important to develop body awareness. Students will conduct an in-depth study of the text, which would include comprehension, vocabulary, meter, and historical context.

RCLC is addressing the need for a safe summer and after school environment for youth while recognizing the positive educational assets that are gained by theatre studies: confidence, self-esteem, communication skills, reading comprehension, and an appreciation of youth by the community.