by Borden Black

Rick McKnight remembers that because someone gave his family tickets, he was able to go hear the ColumbusSymphony when he was 11. Harry Kruger was conducting Wagner. “I wasmesmerized,” he recalls. That started his lifelong passion for music and prompted McKnight, along with fellow ColumbusRiverCenter board member Susan Butler, to push for a program to help others attend performances at the performing arts center.

“Susan and I thought it should be more than just an entertainment venue,” said McKnight. “We felt it needed to be educational as well.” Board members decided they wanted to make the experience available to those who might not be able to afford it, particularly young people.

McKnight remembers that during the first year, tickets funded by RiverCenter donors were given to members of the Boys and Girls clubs and their chaperones and parents. The first performance for many of those youngsters was by soprano Leontyne Price. Several Girls Club members were able to meet the operatic legend at a reception and learn of the struggles the Mississippi singer had been through. McKnight recalls it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for those girls. “I was the arts part. She (Price) was the reach part,” he said.

The numbers tell the story of benefits for children involved in the arts. Statistics show that students who receive artsbased education score 53 points higher on verbal SATs and 37 points higher on math SATs. A study in Minneapolis indicated a significant relationship between arts-integrated instruction and improved student performance in reading and mathematics for students in grades 3 through 5. Similar studies reveal a connection between the arts and increased student engagement and motivation, while others show that the arts can help improve the climate for learning.

With these benefits in mind, the Arts-Reach program at the RiverCenter has now expanded to include shows for schools, and most recently special sessions prior to shows to help teachers ensure their students get the most from the performances. Through a partnership with Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, the ArtsReach Institute was launched.

Using drama and visual arts to meet educational standards while exciting the children enhances learning, according to Claire Ritzler. She was one of the instructors for a recent Institute workshop. The artist with the Georgia Council for the Arts presented literature-based drama activities that provided tools for the classroom teacher to actively engage students in standards-based experiences that promote literacy.

Mindy Thomas, a first grade teacher at Park Elementary in Harris County who assisted with the workshop, points out that such strategies have worked extremely well with her students. “It lets them feel free and doesn’t stop their creativity, “she said.

Her Vice Principal Don Lomax believes RiverCenter performances are an important part of the school’s instructional program, enabling teachers to think beyond the classroom. “Arts infusion makes elementary and middle school classrooms come alive,” he explained, pointing out that performances allow kids to visualize the literature and form relationships with characters. “That leads to higher-order thinking, creative expression and better writing, which are integral to development,” he concluded.

RiverCenter Education Director Jim Rutland says the programs he administers primarily focus on young people. In addition to the Institute he schedules pre- and post-performance discussions. During the 2007–2008 season more than 12,000 students from public, private and home schools throughout the region participated in ArtsReach programs.

Rutland describes the programs as “arts infusion,” bringing the arts into the curriculum. By working with teachers, he says, the RiverCenter can reach thousands of students and develop in them a hunger for the arts. The programs for educators are offered at no charge. The cost is offset by donations and grants.

Admission charges to RiverCenter’s ArtsReach School Matinee Performances are nominal—generally $3, and funding attendance is dependent on donors. A funding program called Fueling Education has been introduced. Contributions help to pay the cost of transporting students to the RiverCenter from schools throughout the sevencounty service area.

Also this year the RiverCenter has added Student Rush pricing to allow an opportunity for students of all ages to see productions that they might otherwise be unable to afford. Tickets purchased one hour before show time by students are just $10 for any seats remaining in the theatre.

Harris County’s teachers are already looking forward to next year’s youth oriented programs, which Lomax says will include: Charlotte’s Web, Go Dog Go and The Jungle Book. More information is available in the “teacher’s lounge” on the RiverCenter’s website at rivercenter.org.

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