Science, Art Program Offered for School Break

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Participants make ice cream at a past school break program.
EGREMONT, Mass. — Flying Cloud Institute and Greenagers will once again hold a science and art exploration program during the February school break for children aged 7 to 13 years. It runs Feb. 17 - 20 from 9 to 3:30 (with early drop-off at 8:30 a.m.), at the April Hill Education and Conservation Center in South Egremont.
 
Participants will engage in science investigations, art projects, engineering challenges, and nature explorations. During the last school break, youth explored material science by making phosphorescent (glow-in-the-dark) polymers and learned about sound by making oscilloscopes. Children also took part in an engineering challenge by using sticks, marshmallows and straws to design structures, and were then introduced to TinkerCad design software and 3D printers. They learned about sheep, visited a working sheep farm, observed wool and other fur samples under the microscope, and created felted wool projects. The program concluded with an outdoor walk, scavenger hunt, and showcase of creations.
 
The February break program will be located at April Hill, which serves as the headquarters for Greenagers, as well as a resource for community gatherings and education. The nearly 100-acre property has nature trails, vegetable gardens, orchards, pastures and hayfields, and abuts the Appalachian Trail. 
 
"Flying Cloud Institute is excited to partner with Greenagers this February break. We look forward to engaging youth with dynamic science and art activities to ignite their creativity," said Executive Director Maria Rundle.
 
The cost is $250 for the four-day program and financial aid is available. To register, visit flyingcloudinstitute.org or call 413-645-3058 with questions.
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King and Confidantes Debate Hope and Change in 'American Five'

By Alan PetrucelliSpecial to iBerkshires
STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — Fiction and fact meld in the regional premiere of "The American Five," now playing at the Larry Vaber Stage of the Unicorn Theatre. 
 
The play takes a fictionalized look at the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his four closest confidants in the months leading up to the famed March on Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. The quintet, through differing opinions, animated arguments, constant threats of violence and a late-night meal featuring challah bread and wine, become a family as they prepare for the history-making march that galvanized the Civil Rights movement.
 
Most of us know the King saga. It's the second act in which playwright Chess Jakobs' genius shines. Prejudice runs rampant here: Is Stanley Levison, a Jewish lawyer from New York who shows up in Montgomery to join the fight for racial equality and "to repair the world," viewed as white? Jewish? Both? And march strategist and organizer Bayard Rustin experiences his own fight for civil rights because of his homosexuality. Here, Jakob explores prejudice on different levels.
 
The cast is top-notch with many emotional highs. As King, Rashun Carter (who would look more like his character if he had a full moustache) and Sydney Elisabeth (as Coretta Scott King) are at their best during a scene that bounces between humor and poignancy. 
 
She questions her husband about his meeting with President John F. Kennedy; he is angry and refuses to discuss it. "There is no 'you' out there, without a 'me,' in here," she says, leading King to agree that because of her self-worth and unwavering devotion to him, she is "Coretta Scott Queen."
 
As Clarence Jones, King's personal counsel, Brett Diggs has assurance and dignity; Harry Smith's portrayal of lawyer Stanley Levison, is nothing short of extraordinary. Destan Owens' performance as gay Bayard Rustin is the play's most outstanding performance as he defends his relations with men: "You don't get to judge me!" he tells King. "I'm just trying to find love."
 
"The American Five" is tightly directed by Gerry McIntyre; the historic period projections and footage/designed by Alex Hill remind people that there are dreams, such as hope and change, that are still being fought.
 
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