Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation
2469 BroadwaySan DiegoCA92112
619-696-9992619-696-6048

Program: After-School Cultural Club Year Started: 1992 Focus: Multidisciplinary Arts Youth Served: 250 Ages: 6-17 Budget: $40,000 Joining the circus is not just a dream for youth living in San Diego's Golden Hill community. The Greater Golden Hill Community Development Corporation is making this universal childhood dream come true through an after-school program sponsored with the Fern Street Circus. Youth train with the Circus troupe at the neighborhood recreation center. They study juggling, mime, clowning and trapeze. Eventually, youth perform circus acts at community events. Children preferring other arts can attend a semester-long after-school program at Brooklyn Elementary School. Local bilingual artists teach sketching, painting, sculpture, crafts, cartooning, playwriting, dance and choir to the 80 percent immigrant population of the school. Classes meet twice a week for 1 hour and on Free-For-All Fridays. Dance, theater and choir students perform at annual open houses and at sites throughout San Diego. "The programs are filling a void created by the elimination of art and mu sic programs in the school," says Program Manager Rafael Ramirez. "The youth are participating on a regular basis because theyÌre getting attention and being nurtured by instructors and volunteers."