As the new school year has officially begun across the country, I feel a renewed sense of possibility for the role the arts can play in learning, in all subjects, in the year ahead. Even greater, I feel a new sense of opportunity for the role the arts can play in cultivating new awareness and understandings for students of all ages, across our communities.

Imagine in classrooms everywhere, Pre-K children learning about the cultures and languages of their new classmates through the sharing of music and dance, or re-enacting stories whose core themes are reflected in multiple other cultures. Imagine Muslim children in elementary classrooms sharing stories of family traditions through storytelling residencies with a local theater company, alongside their African-American, Asian-American, and Caucasian peers. Imagine high school students performing one-acts for each other based on personal stories written about an important holiday celebration unique to their family or culture, then sharing deeper reflections among classmates of their memories and feelings about the celebrations.

Read the source article at Americans for the Arts