WISH LIST $100: african drumming workshop for 1 class; $500: deaf culture, dance, and sign language performance for K-3; $1,000: 5-day poetry residency in youth correctional facility.

What do arts-based activities do? According to Class Acts Arts, they change lives – building hope, opening doors to opportunity, providing important outlets for creative self-expression, and encouraging fresh ways to view and experience the world. In ten years CAA has facilitated over 15,000 culturally diverse performances, workshops, and residencies in the visual, literary, and performing arts for a diverse audience – at DC-area schools, special needs centers, libraries, correctional facilities, community centers and senior centers. Project Youth ArtReach targets youth in DC-area detention and correctional facilities, middle schools, and alternative schools for court-involved youth where activities like poetry writing and drumming can turn lives around. Hoop and Holler for Health uses the arts to educate children about the importance of healthy eating and physical activity to combat diabetes and obesity. Arts for Life reaches special needs populations and seniors in residential care. Winner of numerous awards (Excellence in the Arts and Humanities, Organization of the Year), CAA strengthens arts education, supports artists, builds communities, and enriches lives: now that’s a class act.

Joan Burns, Executive Director B&O Train Station, 8100 Georgia Avenue Silver Spring, MD 20910 301-588-7525 www.classactsarts.org