DCCA ARTS IN EDUCATION SERIES OPENS IN LOCAL SCHOOLS

Darke County Center for the Arts will present actress/songstress/playwright Lyle Cogen performing her interactive show Sticks and Stones for kindergarten through third grade students in all local school districts September 27 through October 1. According to DCCA Artistic Director Keith Rawlins, the program is designed to help today’s schoolchildren learn how to deal with gossiping, teasing, and more threatening forms of bullying. “Lyle’s thoroughly entertaining show utilizes songs, poetry, and monologue to teach life skills that children can use to behave responsibly on the playground and the school bus, at lunchtime or anytime of day,” Rawlins explained.

Rawlins says that DCCA’s Arts In Education series which presents performing artists to students in each grade level in all Darke County and Greenville City public schools is a vital component of the organization’s commitment to serve the community by culturally enriching lives. “Research shows that early exposure to the arts sparks creativity, inspires imaginations, cultivates broader knowledge, and much more to enhance lives,” Rawlins stated. “Of course, all that happens while the students who are being well-entertained are probably only thinking that they are having a really good time,” he concluded.

Arts In Education is sponsored by Bocholt Foundation, Greenville Federal, Dayton Power & Light Company Foundation, Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio, Maid-Rite Sandwich Shoppe, The Andersons, Edison Community College, Littman Thomas Agency, Mercer Savings Bank, Greenville Rotary Club, Criterion Club, and Beta Sigma Xi Delta Alpha Chapter. Funding for this program was also received from Arts Midwest and local school districts.

DCCA also receives support from Harry D. and Esther Stephens Memorial, Lydia E. Schaurer Memorial Trust Fund, and Ketrow Foundation. In addition, the Ohio Arts Council helps fund Darke County Center for the Arts with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence, and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

Performances of Lyle Cogen’s Sticks and Stones are free and open to the public; showtimes are coordinated with schools’ schedules. For more information concerning specific times and locations, contact DCCA at 937-547-0908 or dcca@centerforarts.net.