Free summer activities for arts-loving teens

Some of these FREE events are weekdays, so that a summer program can attend; some are evenings and weekends.

1. Free jazz workshop for high school vocal and instrumental performers @ Stern Grove, San Francisco

(19th Avenue and Sloat near Stonestown -- served by Muni Metro and many other Muni lines)

2. Free Latin, Jazz, World Music and other performances @ Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco

(Fourth and Howard streets near Metreon/Westfield Center -- served by BART, Muni Metro and many other Muni lines)

3. Salsa in the Square @ Union Square

4. Youth Speaks events and the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival, various venues

1. SUMMER SESSIONS WITH JAZZ MAFIA

Summer Sessions is a three day series of music performance workshops with the musicians of Jazz Mafia. Jazz Mafia is a collective of young musicians, emcees and vocalists who perform jazz with hip-hop, electronica, soul, funk, big band, and orchestral music.

Summer Sessions with Jazz Mafia focuses on performance, jazz improvisation techniques, and more. After the workshops, you get the chance to perform with Jazz Mafia onstage at Stern Grove Festival in front of your friends, family and thousands of fans!

WHO CAN APPLY?

SFUSD high school students interested in music and vocal studies.

WHEN IS IT?

•    Wednesday, June 22nd from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

•    Thursday, June 23rd 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

•    Friday, June 24th 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

•    Sunday, June 26th concert with Jazz Mafia - 11 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

WHERE?

Sigmund Stern Grove, located at 19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard in San Francisco

WHAT DOES IT COST?

This program is FREE and open to SFUSD High School students

HOW DO I APPLY?

  Click here to download a PDF application form.

http://www.sterngrove.org/sessions.html

2. YERBA BUENA GARDENS FREE PERFORMANCES

Free music, dance, spoken word and theater performances throughout the summer. YBG has them divided up onto several separate calendars, below.

THURSDAY LUNCHTIME CONCERTS

Latin, jazz, world music and more: Every Thursday June 2-Sept. 29, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

See schedule here:

http://www.ybgf.org/Programs/Lunchtime.php

On Thursday, July 14, the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble will perform, featuring many SOTA musicians

LATIN JAZZ SERIES

Some of those concerts are part of the YBG Latin Jazz Series, which also includes free Saturday and Sunday concerts -- see schedule here:

http://www.ybgf.org/Programs/LatinJazz.php

DANCE PERFORMANCES

Traditional and contemporary -- free!

http://www.ybgf.org/Programs/Dance.php

POETRY, SPOKEN WORD AND THEATER

Performances include two with local teen spoken-word artists in Youth Speaks - Tuesday, June 28, 12:30-1:30 p.m.; and Tuesday, July 19, 12:30-1:30 p.m.

http://www.ybgf.org/Programs/TheaterPoetry.php

3. SALSA IN THE SQUARE @ UNION SQUARE, San Francisco

Near BART, Muni Metro and many Muni lines, including the 38-Geary

Free salsa dancing to live performers on Wednesday evenings -- June 15, July 20, Aug. 17, 6-8 p.m.

On Wednesday, July 20, the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble will perform, featuring many SOTA musicians.

http://www.ybgf.org/Programs/SpecialProjects.php

4. YOUTH SPEAKS EVENTS AND THE BRAVE NEW VOICES INTERNATIONAL YOUTH POETRY SLAM FESTIVAL, various venues

This year, the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam Festival is set for San Francisco the evening of Saturday, July 23, at the Opera House. Brave New Voices represents youth from all across the United States and Europe, making it the largest ongoing spoken word event in the world.

Youth Speaks events in connection with Brave New Voices offer enrichment and educational activities that stimulate the creativity and nurture the soul -- mostly free -- during the week of July 18-23. Writing workshops and spectator opportunities are to be announced. See www.youthspeaks.org for details.

FREE summer weekday kids' arts activities @ Stern Grove! Call now

Check out these fantastic free activities at Stern Grove (19^th and Sloat, served by many Muni lines). Hurry and register while there’s still room!

Kids Days are interactive and fun arts education programs for children ages 4-13. Kids Days are open to the public and admission-free. Pre-registration is required. PLEASE NOTE: Groups of 10 or more, call Alyssa Stone at 415.252.6252 x108 or email astone@sterngrove.org  to register.  74th Season Kids Days Build a Band Kids Day with Magik*Magik Orchestra June 28(Wed.), 29 (Thurs.), and 30 (Fri.) 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sigmund Stern Grove, 19th Avenue and Sloat Blvd.

Cuban Dance and Culture Kids Day with Dance Mission July 5 (Tues.), 6 (Wed.), and 7 (Thurs.) 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sigmund Stern Grove, 19th Avenue and Sloat Blvd.

Modern Dance and Theater Kids Day with LEAP…imagination in learning July 12 (Tues.), 13 (Wed.) and 14 (Thurs.) 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sigmund Stern Grove, 19th Avenue and Sloat Blvd.

Kids Day with San Francisco Ballet Center for Dance EducationJuly 26 (Tues.), 27 (Wed.) and 28 (Thurs.) 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sigmund Stern Grove, 19th Avenue and Sloat Blvd.

Flamenco and Brazilian Samba Kids Day with Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts August 9 (Tues.), 10 (Wed.), 11 (Thurs.) 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sigmund Stern Grove, 19th Avenue and Sloat Blvd.

Free summer weekday performances at Yerba Buena Gardens!

The summer calendar is posted. These performances are free!

Here's the theater/spoken word series.

Poetry on Tuesdays at noon -- Youth Speaks on June 29 and July 19.
Circus Bella on Friday, July 1, at noon.

Resource for free or cheap books

Check out First Book.

Summer program line staff: register now for May 13 conference!

Calling all summer youth program line staff!

Come to the Summer Learning Professional Development Conference Friday, May 13, 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Unitarian Church, 1187 Franklin St., San Francisco. Free! Enhance your ability to enrich your program and help young people's minds stretch and grow over the summer. Great workshops, networking, exhibitors; brunch provided! Register here.

Presented by New Day for Learning/Summer Learning Network; the City of San Francisco Department of Children, Youth & Their Families; the San Francisco Unified School District; the Partnership for Children and Youth; the Sunset Neighborhood Beacon Center; and more.

Crissy Field outdoor summer programs -- scholarships offered

The Crissy Field Center offers an array of exciting summer day camps with an outdoor/environmental/science emphasis, and has funding for scholarships for low-income students.

Learn about the camps and scholarships here.

Paid summer research mentorships at UCSF

UCSF is offering paid internships/research mentorships during the summer, especially seeking African-American male high school students. Here’s a brief description:

Seeking promising high school students (with a particular emphasis on African American males) to apply to be a part of a research mentorship for the summer.  If they are selected for the program, they will receive a stipend of $4,800 for an internship that requires a total time commitment of 320 hours or approximately 40 hours per week for 8 weeks. In order to receive the stipend they will need to have a Social Security number or tax ID number.

** I don’t have the appropriate application packet yet and it’s not available online, so please e-mail me at cgrannan@gmail.com and I’ll put you in touch with the appropriate administrator at UCSF. Thanks!