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Warren selected as first Ohio school for Any Given Child program
By Kalea Hall
WARREN
Colorful pictures line the hallways of Willard prekindergarten through eighth-grade school.
The vibrant pictures reminded guests at the school Friday why they were there: to celebrate art education and the Warren school district as the first school system in Ohio to be selected for The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts program.
“I think it’s going to be transformational,” said Becky Keck, executive director of Students Motivated by the Arts – SMARTS – and lead liaison for Any Given Child-Warren. “I think in the very long term we can duplicate this in other communities.”
Any Given Child is geared toward students in prekindergarten through eighth grade. It uses arts programs in school districts and area arts organizations to integrate arts into the curriculum.
Keck learned about the program from Anita Lin after Lin was appointed by the White House to serve as a member of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ advisory committee.
Lin, who served as an artistic director at the Ballet Western Reserve, then its executive director and then director emeritus, wanted to give back to the community that supported her appointment to the committee, so she called Keck two years ago to tell her about the Any Given Child program.
“We turned it around really quickly,” Lin said. “The Kennedy Center was really impressed.”
The city got on board to support the program here, as well as U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, Keck said. For the Kennedy Center to provide services to the district over four years, the cost totals $125,000 with community donors covering $25,000.
“The buy-in from the community has been so strong,” said Kelsey Mesa, assistant manager for national partnerships at The Kennedy Center.
Twenty-three schools across the nation have been selected for the program since its start in 2009. Warren is the first school district in Ohio – as well as the smallest school district in the United States – selected for the program.
In total, Warren has about 5,000 students in one high school and four elementary schools.
“I think this is going to be an amazing opportunity to have the community and our students engaging in art-based experiences,” Schools Superintendent Steve Chiaro said. “It’s going to create a platform for education.”
Though Any Given Child does not provide funding to the district, it does provide resources to help expand arts education.
“The goal of the program is to ensure that all students have the access to quality arts education,” Mesa said. “We believe that [the] arts create opportunity for students. It opens up creativity and learning. It helps those students who learn in different ways.”