RED BANK — The Count Basie Theatre Performing Arts Academy (CBTPAA) is the recipient of two grants of $2,000 each from the Target Neighborhood Foundation. The grants will assist the Performing Arts Academy in its ongoing arts/performance education outreach in the Red Bank public schools.

Entering its sixth year in the Red Bank public schools, the CBTPAA Outreach Program is essential to providing the arts to children who are economically disadvantaged with few, if any, cultural outlets. Red Bank is one of the most economically challenged school populations in Monmouth County, with 72 percent of Red Bank Primary and Middle School students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. These statistics serve to highlight the need among Red Bank’s students, with many families unable to afford music, theater or dance instruction outside of school. To serve this need, the Basie created the Outreach Program.

This year, one grant will be designated to the academic outreach program for the 2011-12 school year This year’s curriculum will include: “PRIME Time” keyboarding classes for students and their parents, ballroom dance classes, Reader’s Theatre, which focuses on connecting live theater and academics through the reading of scripts to their peers, and a Creative Dramatics Workshop that is an introduction to theater terminology, warm-up exercises and movement classes.

The second $2,000 grant will be allocated to the CBTPAA Summer Program that is an extension of the school-year outreach program. Beginning in July, classes are combined with a summer enrichment program provided by the Red Bank Public School District.

For the past two summers, the CBTPAA professional staff has continued to foster the relationship between students and the arts, offering new opportunities and the chance to explore their interests and passions. Combining the scholastic curriculum of language and math enrichment classes, instructors from the Basie provide a break from classroom work with a variety of arts/culture workshops.

To learn more about the work/programming of the Count Basie Theatre Performing Arts Academy and the outreach program, contact Education Director Yvonne Lamb Scudiery at 732-224-8778, ext. 106, or email ylamb@countbasietheatre.org.