In a time when programs for the arts are a target for federal cuts, Bay Area programs are trying to find ways to not only survive but thrive.
NBC Bay Area’s Robert Handa got an inside look into one of these programs that supports students in local schools with immersion into the arts.
This includes Fox Elementary School in Belmont, where students get to enjoy the benefits from grants and donations to the school with special performing arts classes.
For fifth graders, the musical “Hamilton” is the focus of a 10-week program led by the nonprofit Leap Arts in Education in San Francisco.
The group has had a longstanding learning partnership with Fox Elementary and many other districts in the Bay Area. Over the years, the program has helped students with a lot more than just singing and dancing.
“I really like doing it cause I feel like it’s a good way to learn new things and work together as a group,” Fox Elementary fifth grader Micah Woldeselasie said.
The teaching artist is Mary Kalita, an accomplished performer who knows how to teach the physical side of performing arts but also what she calls the soft skills.
“Like collaboration, improvisation, working well as a group,” Kalita said. “Learning how to deal with mistakes and learning that failures can help us and those sorts of soft skills that really benefit anyone, no matter what they do in life.”
Students agree with that sentiment, and parents see a real change in their kids as well.
“Sometimes some students might struggle with sitting in the classroom, academics, but this really brings out another part of the student, and I think it builds confidence,” parent Olivia Lam said.
School staff and parents get to watch a show at the end of the sessions, featuring performers who have changed and grown a lot since they started.