ORANGE BEACH, Ala. - The After School Arts Program (ASAP) at the Coastal Arts Center of Orange Beach starts off 2013 with a bang on Jan. 2 with a Wednesday pottery class.

Each school day, ASAP offers students experiences that jumpstart the problem-solving and critical thinking skills that are necessary for navigating our fast-paced contemporary culture. The children think they’re just having fun!

ASAP is a limited enrollment educational program designed to supplement children’s education with the best arts education possible. The program is offered to first- through sixth-graders Monday through Thursday, with an additional Teen class on Thursdays for seventh grade and up.

Friday’s drama class is available to third- through eighth-graders by audition. Younger children may be accepted in age-appropriate classes on a case-by-case basis. Home schoolers are also welcome to enroll in any of the after school classes.

ASAP classes are each school day from 3-6 p.m. (class time is 3:30-5 p.m.). Transportation is available from Gulf Shores Elementary School as well as from Orange Beach Elementary School.

The 2012-13 school year’s 4th ASAP term starts Jan. 2. Term 4 will continue for six weeks, through Feb. 8. One of ASAP’s most popular classes, pottery, will be offered on Wednesdays.

Students may enroll in ASAP for one or more days per week. The cost is $10 per day. For more information contact the Arts Center at 251-981-2787, or send an email to Children’s Programs Administrator Belinda Butler at artedobac@gmail.com.

Individual attention is a hallmark of ASAP as children are guided through a broad spectrum of artistic educational experiences. Qualified instructors recognize and value the natural creative talents of each child, taking them beyond the increasingly limited art education offerings of public education.

Monday’s term 4 ASAP class (the Monday class starts Jan. 7) is illustration. Students will create illustrations based on words and stories, taking their illustrations from concept to presentation. Various techniques, such as watercolor, drawing, acrylic, and mixed media, will be used, with individual attention for each student in the technique of his/her choice.

Students may also combine ideas to create one large illustration. Abby Leach will teach this class.

Tuesday’s class is Public Art: Story Sculpture. Working together, students will create a story, then illustrate it with life-sized sculptures made from tape. This class involves both cooperative and individual work, and will result in one or more sculptural vignettes that will be displayed at the Arts Center. Katie Avant, Artist Relations and Graphic Design Administrator at CACOB, and Belinda Butler, Children’s Programs Administrator, are teaching this class.

Pottery will be the Wednesday class for term 4. This class will explore hand-building pottery techniques and glazing. Not the same old, same old: students will learn new ways to use the techniques they already know, as well as new techniques. Each student will complete several pieces during the class. Instructors for this class are Emily Revere and Abby Leach. Emily Revere is a retired art educator living on Mobile Bay. Abby Leach is the resident artist for The Clay Studio at Coastal Arts Center of Orange Beach.

The Thursday ASAP first- through sixth-grade class for term 4 is Island Voices Performance Choir, led by Leeanne Stilley. Island Voices helps children learn poise, confidence, and self-discipline while they learn about music and how to present themselves in public. This class presents an opportunity for Pleasure Island children to learn to sing and perform in our community. Island Voices participants will perform at The Orange Beach Seafood Festival on Feb. 23. IV is an ongoing class on Thursday afternoons.

IV instructor Leeanne Stilley taught voice, music, and theater at Central Christian School from 2003 through spring 2012, is a past member of the Coastal Chorale, has been teaching her private Acting Troupe, “ACTup,” since 2008, leads the children’s choir at Gulf Shores First Baptist Church, and teaches private voice lessons.

The ASAP Teen Thursdays class, for seventh grade and up, will be a continuation of the third term class, Carved Plaster Panels. New enrollees are welcome for term 4. Students will create panels from plaster, and then learn how to coax a low relief sculpture from it using simple tools. They will learn about process and the creative journey to unveil form and movement in their carved pieces. Katie Avant, Artist Relations and Graphic Design Administrator at CACOB, will teach this class.

Friday afternoons are devoted to the ASAP Theatre Troupe, led by Grace Collins Stanton and Katy Price. The Theatre Troupe will present SEUSSICAL JR. at the Orange Beach Arts Festival in March 2013. Enrollment is closed until March 2013. There will be a workshop for prospective spring Theatre Troupe members on Feb. 23 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the Arts Center. Students who are interested in joining the spring session should sign up for the free workshop online, or by calling the the Arts Center at 251-981-2787.