Disney Musicals in Schools grant embeds elementary schools in multi-year program with Starlight
Photo by Geri Kodey
At five Kansas City schools, students are about to get a taste of what it takes to put on a show, courtesy of Starlight Theatre and Disney.
The point of the Disney Musicals in Schools program, facilitated locally by Starlight with a $150,000 grant, is to provide an artistic outlet for kids at elementary schools that might have fewer resources. Although the program has taken place in other cities, this is its Kansas City debut.
It’s a three-year phased approach to establishing an annual musical theater experience in each school. For the first year, schools get Starlight- and Disney-trained teaching artists who come out twice a week for 17 weeks to help set up the program and teach both students and teachers how to structure it.
They also get educational resources, free performance rights, and recorded music for a kid-level 30-minute Disney musical of their choice. The program is intended for grades three through five, but elementary schools that have a sixth grade can include them as well.
“This is specifically focused on sustainability of the program at school,” says Alex Jones, chief programming officer at Starlight. “… What they’re actually doing is equipping that school team to be able to take this and produce a show year after year after year so that there is a sustainable arts program at the school.”
By the second year, the schools do not have the teaching artists, but they still get the free rights and educational materials, including show kits with scripts and director’s guides. For the third year, the rights are just discounted but not free, with the idea that the schools will have built up the necessary infrastructure to support the program during the first two years.
Jones says schools are not obligated to continue performing Disney shows.
Photo by Tori Collene, courtesy of Starlight Theatre
Garfield Elementary, Gladstone Elementary, Phillis Wheatley Elementary, and George Washington Carver Dual Language School in the Kansas City Public Schools, plus Hickman Mills’ Warford Elementary, will be the program’s first local cohort.
Among the group, they’ll be performing kid-scale versions of The Lion King, Frozen, Finding Nemo, and Aladdin.
Uli Schneider, principal of Gladstone Elementary, says she’s excited to bring back more theater to a school that was once a performing arts magnet school. She’ll be part of the hands-on tea,m devoting two 90-minute blocks each week after school to the program.
“Our students are shy when it comes to making their voices heard, and I think a program like this will give them an avenue to do so,” she says. “It’s great for the kids that sometimes get in trouble, maybe because they’re little busybodies in their classrooms, but now they find an artistic outlet.”
Dana Tiller, principal of Warford Elementary, has seen this kind of transformation in students and has been looking for a way to incorporate more arts education in her school.
During a summer performance camp, she saw “one particular student who’s at my school, who frequently would be in trouble, was shining like a star and flourishing and had zero issues during that time,” Tiller says.
She’s eager to give more students the chance to blossom via the Disney program as they perform Finding Nemo.
“I just love the idea of the kids being able to shine in ways that aren’t often available to our kiddos. … I’m definitely excited they’ll be able to engage in school a whole lot more and … find something that speaks to them,” Tiller says.
Schneider hopes that, beyond the 40 kids on stage, other classrooms get involved in the production by doing things like making scenery for their production of The Lion King.
Photo by Sam Morris
In addition to highlighting new skills for the kids, Schneider thinks the program will foster a sense of community among the students.
“I know this creates a bond among them as artists that they will never forget. I’m a nerdy band kid, and I’m a nerdy choir kid, so I know what this means to people,” Schneider says.
She likes the creative freedom the program allows.
“There weren’t any specific expectations regarding costumes, that we had to buy certain things. We can basically, if we can, make everything ourselves and give it a personal spin. That surprised me in a positive way,” Schneider says.
Beyond the lift Schneider expects the program to bring to the students, there are also benefits for the faculty. She’s already seen their excitement in the planning phase.
“Things like this can help elevate teachers and make them feel good about their jobs,” she says.
At the end of the semester, each school will have its own performance, but they’ll also all get together to perform small selections from their individual shows, plus a group song on stage at Starlight Theatre on May 20.
Photo by Tori Collene, courtesy of Starlight Theatre
