Any Given Child
The Any Given Child program is dedicated to expanding arts education for students across the country. Learn more about Springfield’s participation in this program.
Program Goal
The goal of the Kennedy Center’s Any Given Child program is to assist communities in developing and implementing a plan for expanded arts education in their schools, ensuring access and equity for all students in grades K-8. Springfield is one of only 28 cities across the nation selected to participate in this initiative.
A National Initiative
For many students, access to arts education during their school years is sporadic and uneven. They may have access during some years and none during others. When they do participate in arts education, students may have uneven access to content—learning in or through some art forms and not others. Additionally, equity is an issue. Students in some schools have less access to arts education than students in other schools. A strong district arts education plan is achieved when all students, from kindergarten through eighth grade, have ongoing and equal access to learning in and through all the arts—dance, music, theater, visual arts and media arts.
Data-Walk Example of Participating Partnership Commitment
Springfield Any Given Child Program Partnerships*
*Pre-experience and post-experience guides provided.
Any Given Child In Practice...
Mosaic Arts Collective
Mosaic Arts Collective's mission is to remove barriers, as well as create opportunities for students of color regarding accessibility and representation in the arts through a collaborative program partnership with the Springfield Little Theatre Education Program, a long-time Springfield Any Given Child partner organization... This is accomplished through accessibility to education outside of the Districts’ instruction through additional learning opportunities in visual art, voice, dance, acting, stagecraft and film. Mosaic has already provided these types of instructional enrichment through a diversified production of Moana Jr. as an experience outside the school day, engaging District students in professionally staged performances available to the entire community.
Moxie Cinema
In partnership with Springfield Public Schools, Moxie Cinema developed and launched the Visual Literacy Experience, an in-theater workshop program for third-grade students that challenges them to be thoughtful viewers by critically assessing and decoding what they see on screen... Students not only become more aware of how meaning is created and shared visually, but they also gain tools to become better communicators themselves. The engaging and entertaining 90-minute program incorporates film stills, clips, short films and a group discussion to highlight and explore filmmaking fundamentals and how key techniques are used to communicate meaning. The curriculum ties closely to grade-level learning standards, and participating educators receive a detailed guide with suggested in-class companion activities. The program, currently in a pilot of 10 SPS schools, is offered at no charge to schools thanks to a grant from the Springfield Regional Arts Council and support from Moxie members, with the goal of expanding the initiative district-wide.
Springfield Art Museum
Each year, the Springfield Art Museum welcomes all SPS fifth-grade students to its galleries. Since many students are visiting a museum for the first time, tours are designed to introduce students to a variety of ways that they can actively engage with art. Students explore the museum in small groups, often led by practicing artists... Activities encourage students to observe, interpret and discuss, making connections between their own experiences and the art that they encounter. Our goal is for students to feel comfortable, confident and excited about returning to a museum.
Missouri State University Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities
Missouri State University has been a presenting agency with Any Given Child since 2013. All SPS eighth-grade students have the opportunity to attend two performances at the university... A theatre production is hosted in the fall, and a dance performance is hosted each spring, lending a unique experience as exposure to dance as an art form is limited in public schools. Students are given the opportunity to interact with performers.
Springfield Little Theatre
Springfield Little Theatre’s “Literature to Life” presentation strives to promote literacy and inspire students to have a greater appreciation of the arts. Springfield Little Theatre has been a long-time partner in providing programming for fourth-grade students as part of a community partnership with the Springfield Any Given Child Program, with transportation to the performances... Attending a Springfield Little Theatre play or musical at the historic Landers Theatre is often a young person’s first exposure to a live theatre performance. All fourth-grade students will receive language arts curricular and performance-related learning activities for both their classroom and to take home, designed to promote additional learning opportunities through reading and exposure to the performing arts.
Springfield Ballet
Since 1996, Springfield Ballet has provided busing for every second grader in the Springfield Public Schools system to attend a live, abridged performance of The Nutcracker at the historic Landers Theatre. This program is designed to expose all children to the art of ballet at an early age as part of the Any Given Child initiative... To enhance the learning experience, lesson plans are provided to the schools to be completed before attending the performance. For many of the children, this is their first experience being in a live theatre setting and viewing classical ballet. More than 46,000 students have been a part of this outreach project since it began!
Springfield Ballet is proud to be a part of Springfield's Any Given Child initiative, which seeks to bring access, balance and equity to each child's arts education, using a model that combines the resources of Springfield Public Schools, local art groups, and the Kennedy Center for students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Springfield Ballet's Second Grade Performances of The Nutcracker act as the second-grade component of this program. The Springfield Ballet Board is committed to offering a strong arts education component that benefits students in their intellectual, personal and social development. We want to ensure that every child receives a solid, meaningful arts education from kindergarten through eighth grade.
Plotline
Plotline is a film and media school that teaches the skills and knowledge to create original short films. As an Agency Partner of Springfield Any Given Child, they bring that programming into Springfield Public Schools to multiple grade levels, teaching skills like video editing, screenwriting, cinematography and directing in a hands-on environment. The program's student films are screened theatrically
Springfield Symphony Orchestra
Since 1969, the Springfield Symphony Orchestra’s annual Young People's Concerts have impacted over 250,000 fourth-grade children from all Springfield R-12 district schools, 50 area school districts and students from private, parochial and home schools in Southwest Missouri... Each of the Young People's Concerts is specifically designed to be an in-depth learning experience and an opportunity to listen to live symphonic music and gain valuable exposure to the elements of musical styles and eras.
The Springfield Symphony works with Springfield Public Schools and the Springfield arts community as members of the Any Given Child program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Selected because of a demonstrated commitment to improving education in and through the arts, the Symphony participates in collaborative efforts to provide equity and access to arts education for all students.
My Studio To Go
The My Studio to Go program provides Springfield Public School students access to art supplies and creative ideas. Inspired by the Kennedy Center’s Any Given Child Program and SPS’s Backpack Program, this initiative gives grade school students who may not necessarily have the means to explore the arts extra opportunities to discover and enrich their natural talents.
Peter and The Wolf at Drury University
For more than 40 years, Springfield third-grade students have attended a special performance of "Peter and the Wolf" at Drury University. The 1936 work by Sergei Prokofiev is designed to teach children about the orchestra through an easy-to-understand fairy tale about a boy and his animal friends being stalked by a wolf... Each character is represented by a different instrument and musical motif, helping build connections between the animated, colorful performers and their musical accompaniments. Prior to the performance, third-grade teachers are provided curriculum to help "Peter and the Wolf" come alive for their students. The composer's biography, audio examples, illustrations of instruments and more help students make connections to the power of music and performance, as well as encouraging them to be engaged, thoughtful audience members.
Ozarks Lyric Opera
The Ozarks Lyric Opera has provided world-class, Missouri-made opera performances to southwest Missouri since 1979. As part of our mission to make this art form more accessible to the community, the OLO annually produces an education tour that introduces opera to over a thousand students in the Springfield Public School System... Our goal is to make opera and art songs approachable to younger viewers in the hopes that they will continue to explore and benefit from this wonderful art form for life. We are proud to be a presenting organization for Any Given Child.
Sculpture Walk Springfield
Sculpture Walk Springfield (SWS) is a privately funded grassroots organization dedicated to encouraging the artistic transformation of Springfield through outdoor sculpture, thus enhancing the quality of life and promoting economic vitality. Founded in 2014, ... the organization presents sculptures in the downtown and adjacent Jordan Valley Park on an annual rotating basis. The vision is to create a museum without walls with access to all. The sculptures, on loan from the artists, are on display for 10 months and then replaced with a new collection each April.
Host Organization
Springfield Regional Arts Council & Any Given Child
Virtual Program Delivery Strategies*
*During the pandemic, we moved to add virtual programs to ensure inclusion.
