The heart of CCATE’s programs are the weekly classes in the arts, sciences, music, technology, physical fitness, cooking, literacy and gardening. Classes are taught by volunteers and members of our community, and the offering changes each year based on our volunteers’ talents and our students’ interests. Below is the catalog of classes CCATE has developed; check the weekly schedule for what is running this semester.

Arts & Crafts · Drawing & Painting

Arts & Crafts

CCATE believes that hands at work is the best way to learn, have direct experience with materials enhance the creativity and self-esteem of our students.

Since the year 2014 CCATE has an Art & Crafts class give the student the opportunity to create pieces using a diversity of materials including drawing, watercolor, clay, paper, small wood pieces, to generate unique pieces that express the ideas and creativity of our students.

Instructor: Ms. Diana Lugo

Drawing and Painting

Cristóbal Vega, Dulce de la Luz, and Obed Arango, during the week, have classes and activities where the students practice free painting and drawing. Through the years, it has become a tradition at CCATE to paint in water color, canvas, and experiment with a diversity of materials. Dozens of paintings have been produced through the years and many of them have been exhibited in a diversity of venues, as well as sale at the traditional Noche de Arte, the fundraising event that CCATE hosts every year.       

 

Architecture

Architecture

In the fall of 2018, the Architecture class was initiated by Innés Castro and Obed Arango. In the class, students learn about the fundamentals of design and experiment with different tools, cardboard, legos, and paper.  This class is a great opportunity for students to learn and develop new skills, grow creativity, and appreciate the art of design and architecture. In 2019 the class created a town called “Villa Inmigrante” that was exhibited at the Anneberg Center for the Arts at The University of Pennsylvania as well as in the Museum of the Americas at the Organization of American States in Washington D.C.

Mural Arts

Mural Arts

The Mural Arts class explores ideas close to our cultural roots and experiments with modern art. Around 500 participants have been a part of the creation of 4 murals made by CCATE including:

  • Abrazo de dos realidades – 2013
  • El camino de Quezacoatl (The Road of Quetzacoatl) – 2014
  • El Zócalo (The Central Square of Mexico City) – 2015
  • The Social Movements of México (Permanently installed at Villanova University) – 2016
  • Voices of Peace and Social Transformation – (Permanently installed at the Norristown Area High School)- 2017-2018

The curriculum includes the theory of color, scale, basics of graphic design, and painting. The class strives to facilitate expression to enrich the community with ideas, color, visions, and a critical understanding of life and history. The class is open to students and adults of all ages.

Music · Group Strings

 

Music

CCATE’s music programming offers students the opportunity to explore a range of musical instruments such as cello, guitar, and the recorder .

Dr. Ashley Chen Kim, from Rutgers University, teaches a weekly Group Strings Class for beginner cellists and violinists.

Juan Carlos Orozco, Choir Director of Saint Patrick’s Church in Norristown, teaches a weekly guitar class at CCATE. Juan Carlos has been teaching the class for two years on Thursday afternoons.

Sandra Irene Manrique teaches the recorder workshop using Mexican musical style to teaches the basic elements of the instrument to elementary and middle school students.

Group Strings Class

Our Group Strings Class is a great way to begin learning violin or cello in a group setting. These beginning to intermediate Suzuki-style group violin and cello classes run by semester, with 1 class each week.

The classes are open to everyone, and no experience is required!

By the end of class, students will have learned the basic techniques and will be able to play a variety of fun pieces together.

Photography Circle

Photography Circle

Since 2017, adults and young people have participated in a 35mm black-and-white film photography workshop at CCATE.

Exploring the basics of photography, the curriculum includes: use of manual camera, understanding of formats, film development, printing, photographic composition, exhibition, and matting and framing. The goal is to express our daily life, our imagination, and our aspirations through images that reflect both reality and a symbolic representation of how we see the world.

Along with a yearly collective exhibition, the Photography Circle sells its members’ photographs at CCATE’s annual fundraiser, Noche de Arte .

Filmmaking & Animation

 

Filmmaking

Since 2014, we have offered filmmaking and animation classes during the school year and summer camps. Students learn basic cinematographic languages, editing, use of cameras, sound recording, and script writing. Throughout the years, students have produced narratives, documentaries, experimental videos, and animations.

Watch the films on our Films page.

STEAM: Robotics, Coding & Design

STEAM

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics. Designed with empowerment in mind, our STEAM classes encourage self-representation and the elevation of community voice and experience. As part of our STEAM curricula, CCATE offers our students classes in robotics, coding, photography, music, and many other STEM and art classes. 

CCATE fully embraces the benefit of incorporating art into our STEM curricula. Numerous studies suggest that Incorporating art programs into traditional STEM curricula improves the happiness and well-being of students. In addition, it is linked to positive cognitive development and an increase in literacy and math skills. Through these positive impacts, CCATE students will become more rounded individuals equipped with creativity and problem-solving skills. 

Garden, Cooking & Environmental Care

Environmental Education

In 2015, CCATE began to develop programming in environmental health and well-being through its relationship with The Food Trust. Since then, we have also collaborated with Greener Partners and and the John James Audubon Center.

During the last five years, Environmental Care has been in the core teaching of CCATE with the development of a garden behind the Center Theater Building and the garden works of our new location at 1246 West Main St, Norristown.

In 2020, during the pandemic, Caitlin Brady, Giliam Lorenzo and Dr. Rosalba Esquivel have film and produced videos that can be found on Vimeo with a diversity of topics related to environmental care.

 

Wellness & Environmental Care

The full seasonal cycle of the gardening and cooking class brings students closer to the natural rhythms of our world, while at the same time connecting them to the source of their food, the roots of their heritage and the amazing science behind it all.

Through hands-on weekly workshops, the students of the Gardening and Cooking class explore topics in science and sustainability while developing skills to cultivate their own vegetables, eat healthier, and to prepare traditional Mexican dishes with produce from the CCATE garden.

The garden was started by the CCATE community in partnership with The Food Trust in the summer of 2016. It has grown each season to include a variety of urban growing methods, a composting project, a rain water collection system and a rain garden that was designed and developed in collaboration with the John James Audubon Society. Our goals for the future are to increase the sustainability and biodiversity of the garden so it may serve as a space for continuous learning and refuge for people, plants, and animals in the heart of Norristown.

Soccer

 

CCATE Soccer Program

CCATE has four teams that play in summer, fall and winter leagues for kids ages 7 to 9 (boys and girls – mix team), 10 to 12 9 (boys and girls – mix team) , 13 to 15  years old (boys) and a adult team (male and female).

60 families of CCATE participate directly on the program.

CCATE has two coaches Tessi Ruiz and Cristóbal Vega.

In the future CCATE pursues to certificate parents with coaches credentials and certifications to expand the program and the coaching of the teams.

Reading Circles

Reading Circles

Read, Create, Play

Elementary

The goal of this reading circle is to make reading fun, interactive and hands-on. Each week, children read together from a book of their choosing, and then play and create together using building materials, arts and crafts supplies and their collective imagination. Favorite books and activities have included the Dog Man series and doing origami.

Chapter Book Circle

Middle School

In this weekly program, middle school students read together chapter books of their choosing. During book club, they read aloud and discuss their current chosen book, and its characters, plots and themes. After finishing each book the group enjoys a celebration, sharing food and watching and analyzing the film versions of the book. Group favorites reads have included:

  • Wonder by R.J. Palacio
  • Holes by Louis Sachar
  • The Giver by Lois Lowry
  • Harry Potter Books 1, 2, and 3 by J.K. Rowling 

[TODO – staff] Confirm which classes are running this year (Drama, Red Cross Club, Computer Literacy and Plastic Arts pages were removed as placeholders).

Register for programs