Community celebrates Warren's selection for arts program

WARREN — People are what made it possible for the Warren school district to be selected as the first Ohio school system in The John F. Kennedy Center of Performing Arts' Any Given Child program.

On Friday, community and school leaders gathered to tell the community how their group engagement to bring the initiative here will lead to more engagement from the students.

"The buy-in from the community has been so strong," said Kelsey Mesa, assistant manager of national partnerships with the Kennedy Center. "The goal of the program is to ensure that all students have the access to quality arts education."

The Any Given Child program is targeted toward students in kindergarten through eighth grades. It uses school arts programs and area arts organizations to integrate the arts through curriculum.

"I think it's going to be transformational. I think in the very long term we can duplicate this in other communities," said Becky Keck, executive director of Students Motivated by the Arts, SMARTS, and lead liaison for Any Given Child-Warren.