What do the Library and APA have in common?
We believe that readers are leaders … and leaders are movers!
At Ambition Performing Arts we are raising tomorrow’s leaders through the arts, and we believe the Arts should be available to everyone. Access to the Arts is our primary objective when creating community programs. We committed many years ago to providing programs without barriers to Airdrie and the surrounding community. Secondly, in keeping with this mission, our relationships with the Airdrie Public Library has been key.
Here’s a peek behind the curtain about how we bring the arts and literacy together for the children of Airdrie.
Free Community Programming – Wiggle Wednesday
For more than 5 years, free community programming lived inside of our Ambition Performing Arts walls. While our participants enjoyed success, we knew we could do more to get the word out into the larger community, reaching a bigger audience.
Community partnerships make our city stronger, so we reached out to the Airdrie Public Library to see if we could provide a central location for our free programming for the city.
The Airdrie Public Library
The Airdrie Public Library has a special place in the hearts and minds of those who access their services. They are a place of welcome, a place of community, a place of learning, a place of respite, and a place of opportunity. We knew that partnering with the library would provide our Wiggle Wednesday program with the opportunity to flourish and reach those who need this program most, by providing a central location that removed a barrier of cost and transportation to quality programming.
Since partnering with the APL, we have enjoyed creating high-quality programming that promotes reading books the library chooses each month.
What is Wiggle Wednesday?
Every month, APA provides an instructor who delivers a creative movement class based on the theme the library has selected. This class is for ages 2-5 years. We read stories together, laugh together and move through space exploring the theme. At the end of the class, everyone is encouraged to check out a book. We use the topics to inspire learning and exploring before the next class.
We proudly offer this class once a month.
Movement Monday
In the fall of 2019, the Library recognized the need for more quality programming for ages 6-12. Therefore, our free program offerings expanded to the community. Movement Monday was created to fill this need. This hip hop creative movement program began for this older age group, during after school hours. We are currently working towards a relaunch of this program with the library as well.
What do the programs look like now?
The COVID spring of this year provided us with some definite challenges to delivering this beloved programming and we have been working alongside the Airdrie Public Library to solve each challenge. APA is excited to announce that we have been able to provide our Wiggle Wednesday program via our Tech-Enabled™ classrooms. Innovation at Ambition Performing Arts has allowed us to continue programs with the Airdrie Public Library. We are proud to provide our Wiggle Wednesday classes to the entire community!
We believe in access to the arts, even in our new normal. We’ll continue to match the joy of movement with the imagination of reading.
At Ambition Performing Arts we remain committed to our mission of raising tomorrow’s leaders. We believe that readers are leaders and leaders are movers!
If you would like to know more about this program follow this link for registration through the Airdrie Public Library.
We would love to see you in class on our next wiggle Wednesday!
