The mission of the Any Given Child initiative is to assist communities throughout the nation to strategically design, implement, and sustain arts education programs and resources that ensures access and equity for all students, grade K-8.
The initiative has created a growing network of communities throughout the nation dedicated to this mission. In its first five years, the vision of Any Given Child is being realized in 14 communities. These communities are quite diverse: They represent school districts that range in size from approximately 3,400 K-8 students (Juneau, Alaska) to 220,000 students (Southern Nevada) and several have high Title I representation (as great as 83.8% in Fresno, California). Participating communities also range from urban centers (Baltimore, Maryland) to rural towns (Missoula Montana).
About Education at the Kennedy Center
For more than 35 years the Kennedy Center, along with its affiliates the National Symphony Orchestra and VSA (an international arts and disability organization) has provided quality arts education experiences through performances, residencies, workshops, conferences, career development programs, symposia, and on-line and print resources. Each year, the Center’s education programs have impacted more than 11 million people across the nation. The educational mission of the Kennedy Center is to foster understanding of and participation in the arts through exemplary programs and performances for diverse populations of all ages that represent the unique cultural life and heritage of the United States.
Too often a child’s arts education is episodic and uneven. Unlike other subjects such as math – which is taught sequentially and is offered each year – music, dance, drama, and visual arts may be taught one year and not the next. While some students have access to a music or visual art teacher, most have no access to drama or dance instruction.
The Any Given Child Initiative seeks to bring access, balance, and equity to each child’s arts education, using an affordable model that combines the resources of the school district, local arts organizations, and the Kennedy Center.
In 2013, Missoula was chosen as one of fourteen cities to participate in the John F. Kennedy Center’s Any Given Child Initiative, a national effort to ensure equity and access to the arts for public school students. A Community Arts Team, comprised of local leaders, formed and met with Kennedy Center representatives. The team collected data on regional arts education programming, evaluated resources in and out of schools, and crafted a strategic plan to achieve equitable and integrated arts education. In 2014, the Community Arts Team pledged to continue to champion arts education and formed SPARK! Arts Ignite Learning to facilitate arts education opportunities for Missoula County students.
OVERVIEW FROM THE KENNEDY CENTER
With national attention focused on the need for an engaged work force capable of creative critical thinking, collaboration, and communication, one would imagine that arts education would be a national priority. However, for many children in our schools, their arts education is episodic, a hit-or-miss opportunity, available to only some students some of the time.
Recognizing this disparity, the Kennedy Center envisioned how it might assist communities throughout the nation to provide arts education programs and resources for all students, every year in their kindergarten through 8th grade education.
In 2009, the Kennedy Center began to pave the way toward that “smart, affordable approach to arts education.” In that year, the first Any Given Child site was established in Sacramento, California, under the leadership of Mayor Kevin Johnson. In each subsequent year, new communities have joined the initiative.
Guided by Kennedy Center consultation and facilitation tailored to their needs, Any Given Child communities engage in a sustained, multi-year effort to develop and carry out plans to ensure arts education for all students. Communities progress through three phases of work: Strategic Planning (year 1), Implementation (years 2-4), and Sustaining (year 5 and beyond). Throughout all phases of work, communities have access to Kennedy Center assistance and resources.