Police officer gets hands on with crafty kids

DANIELLE MILLEY

March 6, 2009

Every week the second floor of the Todmorden Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion comes alive with the energy of dozens of creative young minds.

They create collages and picture frames and moulds of their hands. Or they paint Canadian flags on the backs of T-shirts, which is the project they tackled this week.

After the shirts were handed out and the instructions explained, 10-year-old Jann Maniquis sat at the round table with chalk in hand trying to draw the perfect maple leaf on the back of her dark blue oversized tee. The chalk was a good medium to use as the students could erase their work if they weren't satisfied.

Jann and the other students are participants of the ProAction Youth Art Program run by Const. Kelly Granell, an officer with 54 Division.

Every Monday from 5 to 7 p.m. the kids gather at the Legion on Pape Avenue to learn and complete a different art project.

Granell started the program three years ago with 20 youngsters, but interest has grown so much that 70 students from eight area schools are now accepted.

"There's so much need for this program there's a waiting list," Granell said.

Students between the ages of nine and 14 come to learn how to sketch or paint or mould. Granell has run music and drama programs in the past, but found she was able to accommodate more students doing visual arts.

She found there were a lot of programs with a focus on sports so she wanted to give youth an opportunity to learn more about the arts.

"It's ongoing so you see the same kids every week. They benefit, I find that they get to learn team work and get to be around police," she said.

Granell is there each week to set up and greet the kids (and clean up after they've left). She also has help from different officers to run the program.

Some of the participants have been coming since the program started so they keep Granell on her toes.

"I have to come up with something new every week," she said.

Olina Legros, 11, is one of the students who has been attending since the beginning.

"I wanted to come because I like to do art. I thought it would be fun to work with police," she said.

Olina keeps coming back because of the fun projects, such as the T-shirt: she's decided to put a unique twist on it and instead of going with the Canadian flag she's going to do a smile theme. While she loves art, her favourite part of the program has nothing to do with crafts.

"I don't have to do my homework straight after school," she said.

Sakina Chatur, 10, just joined the program this session, and she's enjoying it.

"It's really fun, the things I learn that I didn't know about," she said.

Her favourite project was doing the plaster hand mould.

One of the special projects the students are doing is a quilt that will be sent to soldiers in Afghanistan. Each of them did a handprint with their name on it and they'll also send letters. Granell said they hope to have it finished by the end of April.

The program runs until May 22 and it will likely start again in the fall.

Granell's reason for running the program is simple: "I love the kids."

Funding for supplies and snacks is provided by ProAction Cops and Kids, which is a non-profit organization that provides support for police programs for youth at risk. The Legion provides the space for free.