BANGOR – Arts ‘N’ Kids, a program of Community Health and Counseling Services, has been awarded a $5,000 grant from the Maine Community Foundation.

The grant is made from the Cummings Fund, a component fund of the Community Building Grant program.

Arts ‘N’ Kids is a free program of dance, music and theater for fourth- and fifth-graders interested in the performing arts. This fall, Arts ‘N’ Kids involves three four-week sessions focusing on dance, voice and theater. All three sessions will be repeated next spring.

Along with teaching about the art form, the program gives participating children a chance to learn and practice additional skills and techniques, including concentration, listening and working collaboratively.

Each session of Arts ‘N’ Kids meets eight times, 3:30-4:45 p.m. twice a week for four weeks at the Maine Discovery Museum, 74 Main St.

The fall 2005 schedule begins with theater sessions through Oct. 13, followed by voice Oct. 18-Nov. 10, and dance Nov. 29-Dec. 15.

Each four-week session will end with a mini-performance by participants for family and friends.

Community Health and Counseling Services has been actively involved in bringing arts programs to youths and their families in rural areas of Penobscot County for the last eight years.

The goal of CHCS arts programs is to introduce children and their families to the impact the arts have in learning and development. The agency seeks to provide access for children of all abilities to achieve skills in the arts through exposure and mentoring from professional artists.

Children’s involvement in the arts often results in the development and enhancement of self-confidence as well as social, physical and academic skills.

For information on the Arts ‘N’ Kids program, call CHCS at 947-0366, ext. 451, or the Maine Discovery Museum at 262-7200.

For information about the Maine Community Foundation, visit www.mainecf.org or call toll free (877) 700-6800.