Author: Saratoga TODAY

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Innovation Center at Saratoga, Inc. is kicking off its programming this summer with two one-week sessions of a Roller Coaster Camp in association with Clarkson University. Camp will be held July 26-30 and again August 2-6 at the Maple Ave. Middle School. 

The camp offers rising 7th and 8th graders the opportunity to experience the creation of a roller coaster and theme park while working in small teams. Students will learn the science behind roller coasters, use Roblox to create their dream coaster as part of a theme park and visit the Great Escape to see a theme park in action. 

Camp registration includes four days of in-class exploration of physics, math, computers and artistic components as students learn to theme their parks and coasters, and one day at the Great Escape. 

The camp is based on the Roller Coaster camp developed by the Physics and Math Departments at Clarkson University. The Innovation Center educational team will be trained by Clarkson University faculty who run the camp on Clarkson University’s Potsdam campus. 

For more information visit innovationcentersaratoga.org/summer-camp.

CAPITAL REGION — As students and teachers cross the threshold from a full year of remote learning and begin to address the learning loss resulting from it, AT&T and leading national nonprofit Connected Nation are continuing work to put the connectivity solutions vital to education into the hands of those who need it most. 

AT&T has announced that it has given two local Capital Region organizations, the Albany Fund for Education and The Salvation Army of Saratoga Springs, 1,000 free wireless hotspots as well as free internet connectivity for one year. Each organization has received 500 hotspots with free connectivity. They are part of more than 100 organizations and school districts that will benefit from a $10 million commitment from AT&T, first announced last year, to provide free internet subscriptions and wireless hotspots to 35,000 vulnerable students across the country. 

The Albany Fund for Education and The Salvation Army of Saratoga Springs will distribute the hotspots to under-resourced students across the Capital Region. The hotspots come at a critical time for many students – the final months of the school year – with many students in remote or hybrid learning, and ahead of summer break, where home connectivity can be used to catch up from learning loss caused by the pandemic. Students will have the opportunity to use the free connectivity to prepare for the 2021-2022 school year and will have the connectivity available when school begins in the fall to assist with homework and other learning opportunities to position them for educational success. 

An estimated 17 million K-12 students nationwide and approximately 11,000 students in the Capital Region currently lack access to the connectivity and devices required for successful online learning. While this homework gap is not new, the pandemic has heightened the challenges – most acutely in rural and under-resourced neighborhoods, where the effects of the pandemic have disproportionately impacted 1 in 3 students of color, students with disabilities, and roughly 10 percent of all public school teachers. 

The Salvation Army of Saratoga Springs will distribute the 500 hotspots with free wireless connectivity they are receiving from AT&T to assist with the issues many students and families face with remote education and access to the internet for school. The organization will distribute the hotspots directly to families across Glens Falls, Schenectady, Troy, Albany, Gloversville, and Saratoga Springs. Providing direct access to the internet for education will allow children to set the foundation for a better, more secure future. Since the start of COVID-19, The Salvation Army of Saratoga Springs has helped serve 61,951 meals and 175,000 pounds of food, has assisted more than 50 families with paying rent and utilities, and has continued to find ways to help those in need. 

In addition to contributions to organizations like the Albany Fund for Education and The Salvation Army of Saratoga Springs, AT&T is expanding wireless affordability and flexibility for all schools in its service with unlimited wireless data plans that include content filtering services to support online safety protocols. Learn more at www.att.com/closethegap.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Essity, a leading global hygiene and health company with local operations in New York, has awarded a $2,500 scholarship to Alexandra Stilwell to attend Colorado State University Global Campus, as part of Essity’s annual scholarship program for children of employees. 

This year, students received a combined total of $75,000 in Essity scholarships to use toward their full-time education at an accredited U.S. or Canadian university for the 2021-22 school year. Since creating its annual scholarship program, Essity has given $826,00 to high school seniors and college students. 

The recipients were selected based on their academic achievements, demonstrated leadership, and participation in school and community activities, honors, work experience, statement of goals and outside appraisal. 

Essity has over 350 employees in upstate New York at its mill in South Glens Falls, converting facility in Greenwich, and distribution center in Saratoga. For more information about the company, visit www.essity.com 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Children’s Theatre (SCT) has big plans this summer for their brand-new space.

For the last 12 years, since they formed in 2008, the SCT has rented all over the city of Saratoga to rehearse – the senior center, the town hall, Saratoga Springs High School, and even traveling to Round Lake to perform. Their new, permanent space at 615 Maple Avenue has everything they need at one site: dance studios with a semi-sprung floor and full-mirrored walls, private lesson space, office space, and a black box theater. 

“It’s unbelievable,” said Leigh Berenis, Executive Director of the Saratoga Children’s Theatre, about moving into the new space. “I’ve been with the company for 6 years now, and it’s been at the top of my list. It’s kind of crazy taking on a huge space but it’s the dream.” 

They are past stage one of construction, and are fully moved in. To move on to stage two, which includes getting seating and lighting for the black box theater, they will need to keep raising money and finding grants. 

“We are a small nonprofit, and a big misconception with theater is that it’s a frivolous activity,” said Berenis. “But it’s so much more than that. It’s learning to public speak, to work as a team in an ensemble, learning in-depth about script analysis and character analysis, how to speak about and tap into your emotions. We work with so many underprivileged kids, and we don’t turn anyone away for a scholarship even if we don’t have the funds available, we will always figure it out.”

Summer Performances

SCT’s Summer Camp performances will be held in an open-air theater, under a large tent outside, that will be safer with COVID. The youngest at the summer camp, five and six-year-olds, do a basic song and dance performance every week. The 7-12 age group learn to incorporate more acting and performing techniques in their 30 to 40 min. performances, and the teens put on full-length shows.

Performances are rain or shine, bring your own lawn chair. You can get tickets at saratogachildrenstheatre.org. The schedule is as follows: 

July 9: How I Became a Pirate (12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.)

July 16: Pippin (7 p.m.)

July 17: Pippin (1 p.m. and 7 p.m.)

July 23: Frozen Kids (12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.)

Aug. 6: Dear Edwina Jr. (12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.) 

Aug. 13: Glee (12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m.)

Aug. 20: Freaky Friday (7 p.m.) 

Aug. 21: Freaky Friday (1 p.m. and 7 p.m.)

The Community Market & Open Mic 

SCT has partnered with neighbors Artisanal Brew Works, Caffe Lena, RomCom Candles and 30+ other rotating local vendors for the first year of their outdoor Community Market. Community Markets and Open Mics will be at their new space (615 Maple Ave) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the following Sundays: July 11, July 25, Aug. 8, and Aug. 15.

“We hope that we can help out the community and have people here using this space all year round,” said Berenis. “It’s been a tough year for everybody and since we have the space to have a market and draw people here to support every kind of business that we can possibly support, then we are going to do it. That’s what the idea was behind the Community Market.”

There is no fee to attend the Community Market or Open Mic. The Open Mic is a way for anyone to get out and perform – children and families, poetry, or bands, etc.

In addition, Warm It Up, A donation-based low-impact workout class will be held at 9 a.m. before the Markets begin. All you need to bring is a yoga mat or towel.

Interested in being a vendor, or want to sign up for Open Mic? You can find the link to the forms onlineat www.saratogachildrenstheatre.org, or email info@saratogachildrenstheatre.org.