Celebrating Cesar E. Chavez Day

In commemoration of the life and work of labor and civil rights leader Cesar E. Chavez, the students in the Cook Arts Center's after-school art studio on Wednesday, March 31 turned their creative thoughts towards Cesar E. Chavez. The first part of the class included a discussion of Cesar Chavez's life, how he grew up and, as he got older, the actions he took to fight for migrant farm workers and earn them safer working conditions, fairer wages and a strong union. Next the students cut up a variety of fruits and vegetables and after dipping them in paint created color prints onto large pieces of construction paper. Finally, the students shared their completed prints with the rest of the class and began a discussion of what "unity" means to them and how they have worked together with someone else toward a common goal.

Notes from an Intern: Out of this World!

Last Thursday, March 25th, the kids at the Cook Library ventured into
outer space with Ms. Cat,creating fantastic planets and awesome aliens!
Using red paint, water and soap, the kids blew the paint into bubbles,
then pressed their planets on top creating a cool, otherworldly pattern.
While their planets dried, aliens were created and exchanged, then
pasted onto the planet pictures.  The kids had a wonderful time, not
only with Ms. Cat, but with the Calvin students who volunteered all week
during their spring break. The Library greatly appreciated the loving
attention of the Calvin  students who had a blast with the kids!

-Ande Mustine is a senior at Calvin College majoring in English.
She is interning at the Cook Arts Center and Cook Library Center
this spring.

Notes From an Intern: Dragons!

Tuesday, March 23rd marked a day of colorful dragons at the Cook Library! Library Director, "Ms. Sue" Garza, held a contest for the most artistically colored dragon picture, which were judged by the Calvin volunteers helping out during their spring break. Over twelve fancy dragon pictures decorated the window wall of the Library, and were admired by passersby. The winner received five dollars, and second and third place prizes were given to everyone else who participated. The kids had a ball, and the Library window will remain dragon-full for the rest of the week!


-Ande Mustine is a senior at Calvin College majoring in English. She is interning at the Cook Arts Center and Cook Library Center this winter and spring.

Notes From an Intern: Googe Fiber at Cook Library Center

On Thursday, March 18th, at the Cook Library, the kids were able to participate in a
Community Public Meeting. "Help Bring Google Fiber to GR" was a presentation about the newest, fastest technology from Google, which will greatly increase the speed of the internet. For example, with fiber-speed Google internet, a movie downloads in 50 seconds. (The kids were really impressed!) If you are curious to learn more, or about supporting bringing this venture to Grand Rapids, please contact Wayne Glatz of the Community Media Center at wayne@grcmc.org. other presenters included Rachel Lee Bazzani and Dorothy Johnson.

-Ande Mustine is a senior at Calvin College majoring in English. She is interning at the Cook Arts Center and Cook Library Center this winter and spring.

Tiny Tots Create in Clay

Every Wednesday morning we welcome several families to the Cook Arts Center for a Parent & Tot Clay class. The class is led by Madeline Kaczmarczyk who is our fantastic pottery studio manager. Over the past few weeks the children, ranging in age from 2 to 4 years old, and their parents have created a variety of clay projects. We will be sad when the winter class session comes to an end in a few weeks as we won't want to say goodbye to all these beautiful budding artists, but we are excited to announce that another tiny tots clay class is being offered in our spring class session!

Spring Class Session at the Cook Arts Center

Spring is just around the corner and so are spring classes at the Cook Arts Center. Check out our spring class brochure for more information about class times and dates. Classes are available for children as young as 2 years old up to adults. Register soon! Space is limited!

Notes From an Intern: Creative Writing Workshop!

This Wednesday the after-school art class was two fold at the Cook Arts Center. The children created their own stories, by following a simple narrative format, illustrated them and put the paper books together. Elizabeth, age 6, wrote about an alien named Green that lives in her basement, which he likes very much! Melinda titled her story "Mandy's Costume Party", and each page introduced a character in a different costume. Creative juices were flowing, and the children did a great time creating story and art. Many students were excited to hear that the Cook Arts Center will be offering a 6-week creative writing workshop in the spring class session, too!

-Ande Mustine is a senior at Calvin College majoring in English. She is interning at the Cook Arts Center and Cook Library Center this winter and spring.

Notes from an Intern: Tolly Time at the Cook Library Center

Thursday was a bright day at the Cook Library because of the artistic instruction of Ms. Cat! The kids learned about chameleons, and they learned how to combine shapes to draw a chameleon of their own. Then they added scales with sponges and fingertips in shades of yellow and green, which they adored. Each depiction was unique and lovely! Ms. Cat joins us twice a month at the library, and will be taking the kids on adventures through time on Monday and Tuesday, from 1-3 pm the week of spring break in April!

-Ande Mustine is a senior at Calvin College majoring in English. She is interning at the Cook Arts Center and Cook Library Center this winter and spring.

Grupo Tarasco Celebrates Black History Month at Westwood Middle School

Grupo Tarasco was invited to perform for Westwood Middle School to celebrate Black History Month last week. Eleven members of Tarasco performed a variety of dances for the large and enthusiastic crowd as part of Westwood's afternoon assembly. The crowd was even treated to a fun hip hop dance performance by Grupo Tarasco member's Victor Carmona and Felicia Diaz. Grupo Tarasco's next performance will be at the Cesar Chavez Awards Banquet on March 31 at the MTEC Center. Come check them out!

Mexican Consulate Visits the Cook Library Center

On Thursday, February 25, the Mexican Consulate in Detroit presented the Cook Library Center
with a Bicentennial Library which is a collection of books in Spanish.  The donation included seven
boxes of books filled with favorites such as Sapo y Sepo son Amigos (Frog and Toad are Friends)
to books which teach students how to read in Spanish. Some of the donation also included books
for adults like Cantos del Arquitecto Descalzo (The Barefoot Singing Architect).  We are thrilled to
honored with this collection from the Mexican Consulate!