Newtown Continuing Education's SMART (Summer Music and Art) Camp began its summer classes on July 2 this year. The camp runs for two weeks, in two sessions. This year's second session will run from July 17 to 28.For more information about signing a student up for the second session of SMART Camp, see Newtown Continuing Education's website, , or call 203-426-1787, between 9 am to 1 pm, Monday to Friday.newtown.schooldesk.net/Departments/Summer-Camps-and-Programs/SMART

SMART Camp Program Director Stephanie Cardwell said on July 3 that the summer program was off to an "excellent" start this year, with students engaged in learning while having a good time.

This summer is SMART's 27th year in Newtown. It is being held at Head O' Meadow Elementary School this year, and Ms Cardwell said parents can sign their children up for the second session up until the first day, July 17.

SMART Camp is for students exiting kindergarten to sixth grade. Each session offers a range of classes that students rotate through during the day. Classes cover topics like theater, creative arts, science, and more, according to Newtown Continuing Education. A "showcase" is held at the end of each session to highlight students creations and what they learned while attending SMART Camp.

On July 3, SMART Camp instructor Sean Watkins, who co-teaches the Theater and Performance classes with Emily Anderson, said students were working on creating their own skits. The lesson was building up to creating a skit that was scheduled to be performed at the July 13 showcase.

In another classroom, instructor Lisa Dawson oversaw students making paper puppets. By the end of the two-week class, Ms Dawson said the students would design and create their own puppets and perform puppet theater. Students in the class also kept journals to write about their experiences or stories about their puppets.