PROGRAM HELPS KIDS GET CREATIVE.

Byline: Sue Doyle Staff Writer

VALENCIA - The ultimate school for Vito Funicello and David Greedy starts with a first period cooking class taught by Chef Boyardee followed by an acting class with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Arroyo Seco Junior High School students presented their dream school with their peers Friday to a packed auditorium at California Institute of the Arts, marking the end of a 10-week program with the college.

The education program, Community Arts Partnership, brings art taught at the college - from music, dance, film, art and theater - to schools throughout Los Angeles County.

In this case, it was a theater program taught to about 50 junior high students, many who wrestle with attention disorders or need extra motivation in class.

Since October, faculty from the arts school and 14 theater and playwriting graduate students have worked with the children during regular school days on projects that require creativity. Students wrote biographies and monologues, proposed monuments for their communities, worked on superhero campaigns and designed curricula for their ideal schools.

``It was awesome,'' Vito said. ``We did a lot of brainstorming and wrote about our favorite things.''

Luis Alfaro of the CalArts theater faculty, who led the weekly classroom discussions, said lessons required students to think about their communities and their place in the world. Assignments then challenged students to think of ways to bring art to all of these places.

``It's about creating ideas for people to engage,'' Alfaro said.

While students thought about ways to dazzle the world, they also found themselves engaged with the lessons. Aside from writing, some exercises were physical and required students to focus and find their centers, Alfaro said.

For that, two students stood face to face and mimicked the other person's movements while adding some new ones. The dance continued until one made a mistake. Alfaro said classes would sometimes spend 30 minutes on those exercises that required students' undivided attention.

Although focus is a hardship for many in the group, students thrived on the quick pace of the exercise, in which they kicked up their legs, threw their hands in the air and let out cries and yelps.

Some, such as 12-year-old Kaitlyn De Santiago, competed on stage with the college students in the mirroring exercise in a battle of wits and speed.

Kaitlyn said the trick is to watch the other person closely and anticipate movements. That technique always keeps her a step ahead of her competition. She didn't miss a beat Friday.

``It's a big ball of energy, and I don't want to lose it,'' she said. ``So I go fast.''

Sue Doyle, [phone]

sue.doyle(at)dailynews.com

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(1 -- 2) Above, Arroyo Seco Junior High School students tour the CalArts campus on Friday; below, Johnathan Lewis, 12, talks about the time the kids spent on the college's campus.