Two Crown Heights women, both with experience and love for education and the arts, are behind SMART’s & Music, a new afternoon initiative for children.
Mrs. Rivkie Zalmanov and Ms. Rebecca Cherry say they identified a need in the Jewish community of Crown Heights to provide fun, and affordable arts and music classes during after-school hours for children ages 3 to 12.
“Art and music is an integral part of a child’s development,” says Zalmanov, a mother and a teacher who has studied event planning and holds a BA in education. She ran a play-group and taught in an elementary school before starting SMART’s & Music.
“We believe in the importance of developing each child’s unique skills and talents and that is why our courses are taught in a safe and friendly environment by professional, and experienced teachers, with single-gender classes for ages 6-12.”
“There are so many opportunities for your children to explore and we are always open to new suggestions for future programming,” adds Cherry, a concert violinist who started Red Rabbit Music in Brooklyn to provide specialized instrumental music classes to youth within their schools, and private music instruction.
Cherry holds a BA and Graduate Degree from Peabody Conservatory of music with more than 10 years of teaching experience. “I believe in building the minds of our youth through empowerment, creativity, and education, creating the future leaders in our communities.”
Together, the two offer group classes for fine arts, including violin, musical movement, intro to woodwinds, woodwinds, guitar, general art, fun with shapes and color, drawing, painting, jewelry making, sewing, and book and comic book making.
At their recent open house in their new location, teachers from the programs worked alongside children to teach them new forms of art and music. There was a drum circle, guitar and saxophone demonstrations, along with lots of percussion and other woodwind instruments for the kids to try.
Inside, children were happily painting, drawing, and making jewelry. Their creations were hung along the walls bringing a jolt of color and energy to the building.
SMART’s & Music is located at 305 New York Ave. Open Monday thru Friday 4:30pm-6:45pm and Sunday 11:15am-2:45pm.
If you register more than 2 children for their program, you will receive a total of 10% off your entire bill.
Find out more at smartsandmusic.com or call 347-788-8310.
not like all private teacher…
about time something like this opened here !
and boys should have male instructors
Im so glad to hear something like this is opening…Ive been dreaming about doing something like this for a while now, but lack the experience and funds. So glad someone who can, has finally taken the iniative! 🙂 Wish it was all over the place! Maybe they should do online courses for kids out of town?
This is truly amazing. Its about time we have something like this in ch.
Really needed in CH. I’ll check it out.
Isn’t this the Anshei Chesed Shul?
Good Luck!