Bluecoats To Provide Free Music & Dance Education To Canton Students Through New Program: Learning Access
THROUGH A NEW PROGRAM CALLED LEARNING ACCESS, BLUECOATS IS BRINGING ITS WORLD-RENOWNED EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING HOME TO STUDENTS IN CANTON, COMPLETELY FREE
Today Bluecoats, the Canton City School District, and ENRICHment of Stark County announced a new partnership that will bring the world-renowned educational programming of the Bluecoats organization to our home in Canton, OH. This new program, Learning Access, provides use of Bluecoats’ new online program Bluecoats School of the Arts completely free of charge to the music and dance students at Canton City Schools and ENRICHment, a local agency that provides free after school and weekend performing arts classes to under-resourced students in the Canton area.
Students of ENRICHment of Stark County at their summer camp. ENRICHment was founded by Betty Smith in 2012 to provide free music and arts education to under-resourced youth in the greater Canton area.
“Learning Access is our way of giving back,” said Mike Scott, CEO of Bluecoats. “The COVID-19 pandemic has re-emphasized the vital importance of investment in our local community. The pandemic gave us time to work on new online projects like Bluecoats School of the Arts, and we wanted to make sure that this new era of Bluecoats programming was made accessible to students in our local community, and especially to students that would not normally have access to Bluecoats programming.”
Bluecoats launched School of the Arts in September after the cancellation of the summer drum corps tour. The new program is a virtual school that brings the organization’s educational programming online. Learning Access students from Canton City Schools and ENRICHment are provided with codes for free access to two channels of learning: 1) on-demand dance and music coursework that students take at their own pace, and 2) LIVE! events that students attend together online. Coursework and live events include materials for brass, percussion, dance, leadership, and conducting.
The McKinley Senior High School marching band does “Script Ohio” at Tom Benson stadium at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
CCSD Superintendent Jeff Talbert had this to say of the partnership and grant program: “We value excellence in the Canton City School District and by partnering with the world-renowned Bluecoats, our music and arts teachers can enhance the education experiences of our students with access to the best and brightest in music and dance performance.”
In November and December Bluecoats is hosting two flagship learning events, Symposium I & Symposium II, which include world-renowned keynote guests including Youtube star and Grammy Award-winning composer Jacob Collier plus many other Grammy, Tony, and Emmy award-winning educators and artists. Through Learning Access, Canton-area students at McKinley Senior High School and ENRICHment will have free access to these flagship events, and more.
About Bluecoats School of the Arts - School of the Arts is an online school built by Bluecoats in 2020. The program brings the incredible educational and artistic leadership of the Bluecoats organization to any student, anywhere. The platform features educators, designers, and arts administrators from around the world who create learning opportunities in three ways: an on-demand library of coursework, LIVE! events, and one-on-one private lessons (coming soon). In addition to bringing Bluecoats educational programming online, School of the Arts is focused on making Bluecoats programming more accessible, so that more students have access to Bluecoats educational experiences.
About Canton Learning Access - Learning Access is a new grant program that ensures that music and dance students at Canton City Schools and ENRICHment have completely free access to Bluecoats’ educational programming. The initiative leverages the online programming at Bluecoats School of the Arts to bring free LIVE! events and on-demand coursework to CCSD and ENRICHment students as a supplement to their standard educational programming.
About Bluecoats, Inc. - Bluecoats is a non-profit performing arts organization that brings life-changing experiences to young people through an education in the arts, and world-class arts programming to the Bluecoats Community. Founded in Canton, Bluecoats will celebrate 50 years of world-class performing arts programs in 2022.
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