Learn and grow your tennis game with your friends during EMPACT's CFS Tennis Club!

Students will experience exciting drills and games designed for progressive development and improvement in all aspects of the game. Fun music and EMPACT's coaching style keeps kids engaged while emphasizing sportsmanship and court safety.

Participants will be divided into appropriate age /skill-level groups. Tennis rackets will be provided, or players can bring their own if they wish. Using age-appropriate equipment allows maximum success and fun.

The program will use the Quaker Dome and, when available, CFS' tennis courts.

SCHEDULE: 8 sessions for Lower (2nd-years and older) and Middle School students

Mondays 3:30-4:30 pm

• March 11, 18, 25
• April 8, 15, 22, 29 (no April 1 class because of Spring Break)
• May 6

Best Value - Enroll for all eight sessions - $144

Drop-in sessions available - $20/session

Registration is handled through and payment made to EMPACT.

TEACHER BIO: Warrick Taylor (Coach T)--a CFS alum parent--is the owner and Sports Director of EMPACT Tennis and Sport Performance (founded in 2016). He grew up in the Chapel Hill/Durham area competing as a state-ranked tennis and basketball player. Two of his most profession-defining experiences were playing basketball for the College of Eastern Utah and serving as an assistant coach for the men’s tennis team at North Carolina Central University from 2011-2015 while he pursued a degree in Adaptive Physical Education.

He is passionate about coaching with a vision of inspiring the love of the sports through fun and engaging instruction and play. He is a certified teaching professional through the Professional Tennis Registry (PTR).

Prior to starting EMPACT in 2016 Coach T worked for the Autism Society of North Carolina and lists being one of the founders of the annual EV Skills Basketball Camp for Adults with Autism as one of his biggest accomplishments to date.

He is a self-proclaimed humanitarian and enjoys spending time with his three children--Asante, Kalei, and Emery--his wife Jessica, and their dog Luna.

Computer science and programming skills are essential as technology has taken a more prominent place in our everyday lives. Through programming, children develop and improve their coding skills, practice patience and persistence, and strengthen their problem-solving abilities. This course will provide a space for students to learn programing concepts through interlocking code blocks to program our robots, Dash and Dot, problem-solve, collaborate, foster relationships with their peers, and, of course, have fun! Whether you have Dash and Dot at home or are a complete beginner to programming and coding, this course is for you!

SCHEDULE: 6 sessions for Lower School 1st-4th years (max enrollment: 16)

Tuesdays 3:15-5:00 pm

• March 12, 19, 26
• April 9, 16, 23 (no April 2 class because of Spring Break)

TEACHER BIO: Sky Class Teacher Katie MacTaggart has been living in North Carolina and teaching at CFS for three years! She holds a bachelor’s degree in both Special and Elementary Education from Saint Joseph’s University. In addition, she holds a masters degree in Special Education with a focus in high incidence learning disabilities and is Orton-Gillingham certified. She has a special interest in computer science and believes all students should be exposed to programming at some level. She often holds interest groups using Dash and Dot, Tynker, and Lightbot in her classroom.

• Mar 13, 20, 27
• Apr 10, 24 (no class Apr 3 because of Spring Break and Apr 17 because of Staff Development)
• May 1

Tuesdays from 3:15-5:00 pm for Lower School 1st-4th years (max enrollment: 16)

• Jan 8, 15, 22, 29
• Feb 5, 12

Young actors can be picked up at 5:00 pm or Lower School Extended Day (AfterHours) care is available until 5:45 pm.

TEACHER BIO: CFS Middle School Theater Arts Teacher Alice Turner is a Chapel Hill native and a Carolina Friends Lower and Middle School alum. She got her BFA in Acting and minor in French from Elon University. She has years of experience doing professional theater in both the Triangle and New York. She has taught in summer camps, after-school programs, and, most recently, pre-schools. When not teaching or making theater, Alice enjoys cooking, playing ukulele, painting, and spending time with her cats.

Jack D. Reitz has a Masters in Education and a B.A. in Theater from UNC-Chapel Hill. He's been teaching adult and youth improv classes since 2010. For the past eight years, he's also worked as a teaching artist and summer camp director for SAY: The Stuttering Association for the Young, a New York City group that does theater with young people who stutter. In addition, he's been a partner and producer with Mettlesome Comedy in Durham since 2016.

Some of the greatest values Chess can teach us can be learned at a young age. Respect for ourselves, the other player, and the game itself all require developing supporting values like patience, focus, and self control. Chess teaches kids that they can have a great time while playing by the rules. Learning the rules will be a large portion of this class along with general chess etiquette such as shaking hands after a game, win or lose. But it won't be all about rules! Music, snack time, and exposure to the broader world of Chess are all part of this safe and educational experience.

For young kids thinking two steps ahead or understanding what others are feeling can be tough. The Chess board is a great place to practice those skills and to really hone in their ability to put themselves in others' shoes. Every student will leave a better Chess player, but the paramount goals are to have fun while nurturing skills to navigate life successfully.*

*With the snow coming and power outages imminent, this class will teach the kids a fun game the whole family can play that doesn't require electricity!

SCHEDULE: 6 sessions

Mondays from 3:15-5:00 pm for Lower School 1st-4th years (max enrollment: 16)

• Jan 7, 14, 28 (no class on Jan 21, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day)
• Feb 4, 11, 18

Young chess masters can be picked up from the Lower School at 5:00 pm or Extended Day (AfterHours) care is available until 5:45 pm.

TEACHER BIO: Hampton Smith has been playing chess for over 15 years. He graduated from Elon University with a Bachelors degree in Religious Studies with minors in Asian Philosophy and History, Psychology, and Women and Gender Studies. Hampton considers himself a creative and an academic and has made a living since college by teaching drum lessons privately and with CFS students as part of our after-school music program. His passion is helping young thinkers broaden their minds and capabilities to achieve their success, whatever that may be. In his down time, Hampton has been working to develop a program to bring music and creative learning into children's hospitals. Learn more about him at Hampthedrummer.com.

What does it take to live on a space station or travel to another planet? Can you and your team figure out how to get earthlings to Mars? And what will they need to do when they get there? We will be using LEGO Robotics to meet the challenges of exploring and living on Mars. We will work in teams to solve problems and tackle challenges involved in setting up and running a Martian colony with the help of our robots. We will learn basic LEGO Mindstorms programming and model building to try out our ideas. This program is loosely based on the First LEGO League challenge.

Depending on student demand, we are open to continuing the class as a Spring offering as well.

SCHEDULE: 6 sessions for MS 1st-4th years (and possibly LS 4th years on a case-by-case basis) (max enrollment: 12)

Thursdays 3:20-5:00 pm

• Jan 10, 17, 24, 31
• Feb 7, 14

TEACHER BIO: Tommy Johnson was a student in a Quaker school for six years himself. He has been an educator for more than 20 years and has a CFS Upper Schooler and two graduates. Tommy received his B.A. from Earlham and holds an M.A.T. in Science Education. Part of his experience includes teaching on the staff at the Museum of Life and Science; he's also been an Educator of Excellence from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Tommy has taught maker classes for both after-school enrichment and Summer Programs. He has a strong interest in the arts as well and enjoys teaching classes which combine the arts and science.

This is a life-changing character development program for girls in 3rd-5th grade. The program combines lessons intended to enhance self-esteem, promote positive and useful problem-solving strategies, and foster healthy relationships with developmentally-appropriate training for a 5k event. In GOTR, girls learn to stretch themselves physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally. They aspire to achieve their limitless potential! Coaches will walk students from the Lower School to the Gym Green Room and track. www.gotrtriangle.org

SCHEDULE: Mondays and Wednesdays (September 24-December 8) from 3:15-4:45 pm (max enrollment: 15)

Girls can be picked up from the Green Room at 4:45 pm or Extended Day (AfterHours) care is available until 5:45 pm.

Please note GOTR registration begins at 10:00 am on Monday 3 September and has a 72-hour open enrollment period.

COACHES: Melissa Faith, Ayashe Ramey, and Audrey Sung

If you have any questions about the program, please contact Kristen Malzahn, GOTR Site Coordinator, at kmalzahn@nc.rr.com.

We inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running.

We envision a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams.

Do you like to perform? Play silly games? Pretend to be someone or something else? This class will explore acting skills such as improvisation, speech and movement, and character development through fun improv games. We will also rehearse a play to perform for friends and families at the end of the course. Come play with us!

Tuesdays from 3:15-5:00 pm for Lower School 1st-4th years (max enrollment: 16)

• Oct 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
• Nov 6

Young actors can be picked up at 5:00 pm or Lower School Extended Day (AfterHours) care is available until 5:45 pm.

TEACHER BIO: CFS Middle School Theater Arts Teacher Alice Turner is a Chapel Hill native and a Carolina Friends Lower and Middle School alum. She got her BFA in Acting and minor in French from Elon University. She has years of experience doing professional theater in both the Triangle and New York. She has taught in summer camps, after-school programs, and, most recently, pre-schools. When not teaching or making theater, Alice enjoys cooking, playing ukulele, painting, and spending time with her cats.

Every child is both an artist and a scientist, and in this eight-week class Lower School students have the opportunity to explore our natural world through art experiments, projects, and creative discovery labs! Students will especially engage in the world of plants and botany, and will use our beautiful campus as a point of inspiration. We will be engaged in printmaking, drawing, painting, plaster casting, paper craft, ceramics, photography, color theory, and fiber arts and natural dyeing. The class will take place in the Upper School Art Studio and culminate in a group sharing.

SCHEDULE: 8 sessions

Thursdays from 3:15-5:00 pm for Lower School 1st-4th years (max enrollment: 12)

• Sept 27
• Oct 4, 11, 18 (Oct 25 is a parent conference day, so no class)
• Nov 1, 15, 29 (Nov 8 is a staff development half-day and Nov 22 is Thanksgiving, so no class)
• Dec 6

We'll walk students from the Lower School to the Upper School. Nature artists can be picked up from the Upper School Art Studio at 5:00 pm or Extended Day (AfterHours) care is available until 5:45 pm.

TEACHER BIO: Amelia Shull has been teaching a variety of art classes in the Upper School since 2003. She studied Art History, Photography, and Sculpture at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Eastern European Art History, Culture, Politics, and Sociology at the University of Wrocław, Poland in 1996.

Amelia focuses on confidence-building and empowerment of young people through the arts, engaging students to recognize their inherent gifts and develop their visual voices through technique and skill building. She is a parent of two enthusiastic and creative CFS students. Amelia invites you to look at the CFS Studio Art Instagram account!

Why would Grand Master Maurice Ashley teach young football players chess and tell them to put chess on their college applications? See the video!

To play chess is to develop respectfulness, patience, confidence, discipline, intellectual sharpness, and occasionally some well-informed risk-taking. Chess teaches us to question, look at problems from multiple angles, and develop our skill set for mentalization (a term championed by modern Hungarian psychoanalyst Peter Fonagy) so we can persevere to reach a better version of ourselves.

Through chess, players can learn critical thinking and explore old wisdom about how to interact with the world around them. Every student will leave a better chess player, but the paramount goals are to have fun while nurturing skills to navigate life successfully, including winning and losing gracefully, questioning the status quo, and making the right move.

Students will also encounter the 2,000-year history of chess, including a look at Maurice Ashley, the first African-American Grand Master, and his rise from the streets of Brooklyn.

SCHEDULE: 6 sessions

Tuesdays from 3:20-5:00 pm for Middle School 1st-4th years (max enrollment: 16)

• Oct 16, 23, 30
• Nov 6, 13, 27 (no meeting Nov 20, Thanksgiving week)

Young chess masters can be picked up from the Middle School at 5:00 pm or Extended Day (AfterHours) care is available until 5:45 pm.

TEACHER BIO: Hampton Smith has been playing chess for over 15 years. He graduated from Elon University with a Bachelors degree in Religious Studies with minors in Asian Philosophy and History, Psychology, and Women and Gender Studies. Hampton considers himself a creative and an academic and has made a living since college by teaching drum lessons privately and with CFS students as part of our after-school music program. His passion is helping young thinkers broaden their minds and capabilities to achieve their success, whatever that may be. In his down time, Hampton has been working to develop a program to bring music and creative learning into children's hospitals. Learn more about him at Hampthedrummer.com.