A select group of PAVE Partner School students will soon have the chance to attend theater and arts in education workshops thanks to a new partnership among PAVE Partner Schools, First Stage, and The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The organizations announced their collaboration plans Thursday. The partnership, which will begin during the 2013-14 school year, will incorporate First Stage’s arts education programming and The Kennedy Center’s expertise into a number of PAVE Partner Schools.
In addition to theater and arts in education workshops for students, the programming will feature professional development guidance for teachers and what the organizations describe as learning opportunities during and after First Stage shows.
“Getting involved with First Stage and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts has made me realize just how fortunate we are to have First Stage in Milwaukee,” said Dave Steele, director of school partnerships for PAVE. “It is a national-caliber performing arts organization that would be the envy of many other cities throughout the country, and its ability to make the lessons of theater arts applicable for teachers and classrooms is innovative and second to none.”
The organizations within the partnership hope that they can serve as a model for other school-community partnerships, Steele said.
PAVE serves Milwaukee with a nonprofit mission to enhance educational opportunities for students and make them more accessible to those who need them most. First Stage, which belongs to the Partners in Education program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, offers family-friendly theater productions and programs to inspire, educate and entertain individuals in greater Milwaukee.
