Hats off to a fabulous opening night performance of the CCHS Choral Department/Tempo Club production of Mary Poppins. The sets, the staging and the costumes were absolutely beautiful and it truly was a feast for the eyes. And the student’s performances – I will not do them justice by anything I say here as there are not enough superlatives to use. The characterization and vocals were off the charts. Those statues! Mary Poppins and Bert flying through the air! DO NOT miss the opportunity to see this production and if you are reading this after 2:00 on Sunday- sorry you missed it.

I have to do a little bragging as I counted 18 cast members who cut their teeth on the stage of the Arts Center through our children and youth theater programs. What an honor it has been to be a part of this little corner of their lives and watch them grow and become the wonderful human beings they are. Truly made my heart swell with pride to see you all up there giving it your best.

I want to take a minute and expand on something Mr. Travis Kern said in his welcoming remarks. He said, and I am sure I will misquote, “if you want your children to have a well-rounded education and score higher on tests – include the Fine Arts.” I hope I didn’t mess that up too bad, Travis. His remarks did encourage me to do a little digging for some statistics supporting his comments. DoSomething.org is a global movement of 5.5 million young people making positive change, online and off. This site is loaded with ways for young people to get involved in projects and programs that better the community. The 11 facts below are from their web site.

Students who study art are 4 times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement and 3 times more likely to be awarded for school attendance.

Arts and music education programs are mandatory in countries that rank consistently among the highest for math and science test scores, like Japan, Hungary, and the Netherlands.

Music programs are constantly in danger of being cut from shrinking school budgets even though they’re proven to improve academics.

The No Child Left Behind Act clearly mandates The Arts (music, art, foreign language, etc.) as a core academic subject.

One study group showed that 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students who were taught a foreign language every day in school outperformed the students who were not exposed to a foreign language on their Basic Skills Test.

Federal funding for the arts and humanities rolls in around $250 million a year, while the National Science Foundation is funded around the $5 billion mark.

Researchers find that sustained learning in music and theater correlates strongly with higher achievement in both math and reading.

In a study of a high-poverty schools in Chicago, the schools that were participating in the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) made huge strides in closing the gap between high- and low-income students’ academic achievement.

Multiple studies have concluded that curricular and extracurricular art studies and activities    help keep high-risk dropout students stay in school.

New brain research shows that not only does music improve skills in math and reading, but it promotes creativity, social development, personality adjustment, and self-worth.

Research suggests that studying a second language is essential to the learning process, creative inquiry and critical thinking. Foreign language studies have proven to increase problem-solving skills and overall cognitive development.

So, the question is – where are we dropping the proverbial ball? And what are we going to do about it? I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on the subject. Call me at 985-1922 or drop me an email at cfritzarts@gmail.com — or better yet come on in to YOUR Arts Center and let’s start the conversation.