KSHB 41 reporter Grant Stephens covers downtown Kansas City, Missouri. He also focuses on stories of consumer interest. Share your story idea with Grant.
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A year after Starlight Theater launched Disney Musicals in Schools in Kansas City, local students are preparing to take the stage for a performance at Starlight Wednesday night.
The Student Share celebration will showcase the performances kids have been working on for the last year. Starlight says it's proof of what can happen when a school's theater program is given room to dream big.
Almost exactly a year ago, Starlight learned it would receive a $150,000 grant from Disney to bring musicals into under-resourced elementary schools. The money covers the training, materials, and support so teachers and staff at each school can launch productions without worrying about how to fund costumes, sets, lighting, or rights to shows.
Five Kansas City Public Schools - Garfield Elementary, George Washington Carver Dual Language School, Gladstone Elementary, Phillis Wheatley Elementary, and Warford Elementary - spent 17 weeks learning every part of the process, giving them the tools to create shows year after year.
Alex Jones with Starlight Theater said the program is about more than just the students.
"As much as it's about training and equipping young students to have their first musical experience, it's just as much about training a school community how to have a musical," Jones said. “Three to five teachers from every single school participate, and they get trained up, so that they can learn how to implement a show, not just this year, but next year, and the year after, and then all of a sudden you have this sustainable program that lasts year after year after year.”
Jones said the work is far from over.
"As amazing as this year has been, and truly it has been, it's actually only the beginning of this process," Jones said. "The schools that are participating this year, they move into year two, where they take everything that they've learned and they translate it for their second year of the project. They might bring along new school team members to get equipped to help implement. They'll have a whole new batch of students participating next year, and then from there they move into year three. And so on and so on. On the Starlight side, we will select four to five brand new schools next year, so that the impact of this program keeps growing.”
Wednesday night's Student Share celebration will let each school perform a number from their show before an audience of more than 1,000 people.
Applications are already open for schools interested in participating next year. Click here to learn more.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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