MR. KOJO NNAMDIFor some kids, after school hours are easily filled with sports team practices, violin lessons, acting classes and bands rehearsals. But other kids go home to an empty apartment with only the temptations of the street to occupy their time. A growing number of non-profit arts and humanities program is aiming to fill that void and bring the benefits of an arts education to at-risk youth for a nominal fee. These groups are opening doors for children who have no other access to music, art or cultural history projects. They're getting a hand from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, which makes annual awards to a dozen of these groups including some here in the District of Columbia. Joining us in studio is Quique Aviles, he is project coordinator for Paso Nuevo at Gala Hispanic Theater. Quique Aviles, thank you for joining us.

MR. QUIQUE AVILESThank you for having me.

NNAMDIAlso with us is Ayize Sabater, co-founder and CEO of Mentors of Minorities in Education's Total Learning Cis-Tem, known as "MOMIE's TLC." Ayize, thank you for joining us.

MR. AYIZE SABATERIt's good to be with you, Kojo.

NNAMDIAlso with us is Ed Spitzberg, executive director of Sitar Arts Center. Ed Spitzberg, good to have you on board.

MR. ED SPITZBERGThank you very much, Kojo.

NNAMDIAnd also Jonathan Katz, CEO of National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. Jonathan Katz, good to have you here.

MR. JONATHAN KATZThanks, Kojo.

NNAMDIAnd we'll start with you, Jonathan. Let's look at the value of after-school arts programs. In a speech in April, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said, quoting here, "Arts educators can provide high quality instruction in after-school and extended day programs that is especially critical for low-income students. Research suggests that arts education not only boosts academic outcomes but that neighborhood-based arts and cultural activities can build stronger cities and communities." Exactly how do arts and humanities programs do that?

KATZWell, I think there's this -- maybe I want answer this in two parts. And one is, you know, what do we mean when we say you learn in the arts? Because some people think, well, it’s an arts thing, it's something you do, you know, is something frivolous or something in your spare time. But when you think about it in education, it's about skill building. It's about how you learn. So some kids may learn very well with numbers and some kids may learn very well with words. But some kids are gonna learn by doing things, by moving around, and some kids are gonna be learning by what they see and what they hear. Some kids are gonna learn by what they see, the images that they see, and that's why Harvard University uses its doctors and takes them to museums so they can learn to see if you're gonna be a diagnostician or work in an emergency room. So, these are very basic skills that all kids need to learn well.

NNAMDIA lot of kids who drop out of high school say they often don't feel like they're getting any individual attention or learning anything. How do after-school arts programs address some of those concerns?

KATZWell, when you're in an arts class, a number of things are going on. One is you're identifying things that you think as an individual, and you need to have a dialogue not only with your teachers but with -- all art is about communication. So it's all about getting to an audience, understanding your audience. In fact, role playing, we talked about drama, and it sounds like something that they see on a stage. But if you're gonna have an interview, a job interview, or you're going to meet the public -- and just like you're doing, Kojo, you put on different roles every day to think of what your audience is interested in, and to think of what your guests are gonna bring to the conversation.

NNAMDIAt least my producers do.

NNAMDIEd Spitzberg, for the last 12 years, the President's Committee on Arts and Humanities has chosen 15 organizations from around the country to receive a Coming Up Taller award. The Sitar Arts Center located in D.C.'s Adams Morgan's neighborhood is one of last year's winners. What is Sitar's mission?

SPITZBERGSitar's mission is to provide arts education to the youth of our community. We started out doing that in Adams Morgan and we've grown to provide that throughout the city, and to provide positive choices for young people that might be faced with negative choices. And we do that through a variety of means. We have writing and singing and instrumental music and theater and visual arts and dance, all in one facility. So we're also creating a community within our doors. You mentioned the secretary's emphasis on arts in community, and we do that as well.

NNAMDIWhat does it cost to take classes at Sitar? Will this break my bank account?

SPITZBERGNot at all. We have a sliding fee scale. Eighty percent of our students come from families with low incomes. And most of the arts students pay $15 per semester, per family for unlimited classes. So that includes private instrumental lessons and instruments that they can use at Sitar. It includes all the visual arts classes and supplies. It includes dance clothes, dance shoes. And it costs Sitar Arts Center around a thousand dollars per student to provide those classes.

NNAMDIAyize Sabater, your program is called MOMIE's TLC, we mentioned earlier, Mentors of Minorities in Education's Total Learning Cis-Tem. Your after-school program started with a dozen children. And in a decade, you've doubled that number. Tell us about the kids who come to MOMIE's.

SABATERYes. Well, Kojo, if I could, I wanna hit two other points before hitting that one.

NNAMDIOkay.

SABATEROne is the urgent need for arts and humanities-based programs is more important than what we even saw happen here in the D.C. area yesterday, with a brazen Wild West drive-by shooting that killed one African-American male, others wounded and, you know, still, black-on-black crime is still the number one killer of black males under the age of 30. So homicide at the hands of another brother. And so our programs, arts and humanities programs, are vitally essential to helping to shift out children's energy from a destructive, getting involved with gangs, to a more creative and --developmental expression of their energy.

SABATERAnd then MOMIE's, we began, as you spoke, of as a really small program. And because of the grace of God and many folk in the community who saw the value in investing in innovative programs -- so we do everything from meditation with our children, yoga. We have this really interactive history teaching curricula where they're learning about great leaders from around the world. So we're actually helping to bring history to life for young children. And so they're learning ways to develop conflict resolution skills. They're learning ways to be able to discuss hard, difficult topics in a very creative way using arts and humanities, so that they can really shine their light in this dark time.

NNAMDIIndeed, you use social justice, cultural education, the gifts, some of the life skills that will help them succeed in school. Give us an example of how you introduce, oh, a social justice topic. How did you teach the children about Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who is under house arrest in Burma.

SABATERPerfect. So for us, again, arts and humanities, history -- we gave -- come to humanities through teaching history in a very interactive way. History is primarily textbook driven and gear towards middle-school children. We are taking early childhood children and having them to touch, taste, feel, smell history, walk in the shoes of a great president. So when we learned about Aung San Suu Kyi, they actually -- we had a little child-sized house that they can get in and they had to sit there for X period of time to feel like what it is to be under house arrest. We had them practicing meditation as she's a Buddhist. We had them even write letters that they've pasted on the house to say why it was unjust for her to have to stay in the house for a whole, you know, however long she's been there.

SABATERAnd so we used, again, this history -- interactive to use it as a way to teach, you know, abuse, genocide. So we've looked at abuse through learning about Zion Zalbe. We looked at learning about oppression and learning about Frederick Douglas or learning about -- you know, many different topics that all -- you know, genocide, they learned about Elie Wiesel or Irena Sendler, who is, you know, a dynamic Polish social worker who actually saved 2,000 children out of the Holocaust. And they learned about genocide and abuse. And so, again, we study very difficult topics through these great persons' methodology.

NNAMDII'm glad you mentioned Aung San Suu Kyi's being under house arrest, because just yesterday, we had Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker on the show and she said, she visited Burma and discovered that she could not visit Aung San Suu Kyi in her house, so she drove by the house. That would be an interesting lesson for children. You can only look out the window and see people who would like to meet with you driving by. They can't actually come in to see you at all. In case you're just joining us, we're discussing after-school arts for at-risk youth and inviting your calls at 800-433-8850. What do you feel about the impact that after-school arts and culture programs can have at at-risk youth, and do you have any experience in that regard at all? You can call us at 800-433-8850, or you can send email to kojo@wamu.org. You can send us a tweet @kojoshow or you can simply join the conversation at our website, kojoshow.org. Quique Aviles, you are the project coordinator for Paso Nuevo at GALA Hispanic Theater. You direct that program. Tell us about the program and the young people who participate in it.

AVILESWell, we've been around for say, 18 years I guess, the project. Actually, I came into GALA when I was a kid, when I was 17. And I was trying to discover my voice and trying to talk about issues that were pertinent to me at that time. And GALA was, you know, embraced me and...

NNAMDIThat was before GALA was in the more -- in one of the most lively neighborhoods in town. (laugh)

AVILESRight. That's when we were in Mount Pleasant at the Sacred Chart -- Sacred Heart Church, in the basement. So, yeah, I grew up with GALA as a kid so I've always understood that kids do have a voice and the voice of kids does, you know, does matter. So we started the project as an acting workshop and then it kinda morphed into -- we got invaded by a bunch of writers during the time of the Spoken Word Movement, when the Spoken Word Movement was just kinda like, you know, beginning. So then it turned into acting and writing workshop and it became very mixed. So GALA Hispanic Theater is a Latino theater and it does primarily work in Spanish but our doors have always been open to the community as a whole so we have African-American kids, white kids coming in...

NNAMDII got my own start in theater in junior high school and it frankly has led to whatever career I have today. It seems like working on a theater production could build all sorts of skills, public speaking, construction, sound engineering. What do kids take away from your program that helps them to succeed offstage?

AVILESWell, I think all of those things. I mean, we have kids that have been in our program that have gone on to college. We have a young woman that is actually now getting her PHD on performance art. And a lot of -- and the interesting thing is that we've had some of our previous members now coming back to teach. So over the summer, we had a young woman, Sherry Ladson (sp?) who came out of our project. She's a beautiful singer and so she came to teach the younger kids this summer, so there is that, you know, the type of relationship. But I think, you know, they get a lot, I mean our process is, you know, this collective creation kind of process. So where they are challenged, you know, to write their own pieces. You know, if you have five minutes on the stage to say to the world what you think and feel, what would that look like? What would that sound like? So from the very get-go, there's a challenge to begin through issues, through social issues, what is happening in your life at the moment that means something to you.

NNAMDIGot to take a short break. When we come back, we'll continue this conversation about after-school arts for at-risk youth. Those of you who've called already, stay on the line. We'll get to your calls. We still have a couple of lines open at 800-433-8850 and a whole lot of room at our website, kojoshow.org, for your comments or questions. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.

NNAMDIWe're discussing after-school arts for at-risk youth with Ed Spitzberg, executive director of Sitar Arts Center, Ayize Sabater, co-founder and CEO of Mentors of Minorities in Education's Total Learning Cis-Tem, known as MOMIE's TLC, Quique Aviles is project coordinator for Paso Nuevo at GALA Hispanic Theater, and Jonathan Katz is the CEO of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. Jonathan?

KATZYeah. You know, when you hear how exciting these programs are and how engaging they are for young people, it's not surprising that there's a large body of research that shows how beneficial they are for kids in the rest of their life and learning and the rest of their community life. So we have a large study that was done at Stanford by James Catterall in which it showed that kids that have a good deal of experience in the arts, they earned better grades and scores, they did better on standardized tests. They're less likely to drop out of school. They watch fewer hours of television. They're less likely to report that they're bored in school. They have a more positive self-concept, and they're more involved in community service.

NNAMDISo it's not just anecdotal evidence we're talking about.

KATZNo, not at all. There's one particular study that looks at kids involved in arts organizations, after-schools specifically. This is by Shirley Brice Heath, and she notes that students who are involved in arts organizations, compared with other students, are two times more likely to win an award for academic achievement. They're four times more likely to participate in a math or science fair. They're three times more likely to win an award for school attendance. They are twice as likely to read for pleasure. And they're over four -- over three times more likely to be elected to a class office in school. And then we see that there's some social capital building up here because they're learning -- it's -- they're not in competition with each other. They're in competition for each other. And that results in them being more than four times more likely to engage in community service and eight times more likely to win a community service award.

NNAMDIWell, that worked for me in school also, except for the awards part. (laugh) Here is Michelle in Alexandria, Va. Michelle, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

MICHELLEHi, Kojo. How are you?

NNAMDII'm well.

MICHELLEGood. Good. I was just listening to the show, and we -- I run a non-profit organization that teaches yoga to children after school. And we work a lot with children from low-income neighborhoods and underserved neighborhoods. And we work specifically with a few arts programs as well. And we find that the kids have wonderful outcomes. I mean, yoga complements their artwork, be it through theater or through hands-on art, that they really, really seem to do very, very well. The only thing that we find, though, is lack of funding. And I'm just wondering how you guys -- with all of the other nonprofits and their experience -- you know, we're just about three years old, and we seem to double in size every year, but we don't double in funding every year.

NNAMDIAnd especially during the current economic climate, I think you have a lot of fellow non-profiteers who are all dealing with the same issue. Right, Jonathan?

KATZYeah.

NNAMDIIt's just very, very difficult, but please try to persevere, Michelle.

MICHELLEYeah. You know, our organization is called YoKid...Stretch Your Limits. And we really do a lot of work in D.C., Northern Virginia and Maryland. So any insight that you guys have to offer on funding -- you know, we serve over 1,000 kids at this point.

NNAMDII don't know. Ed Spitzberg, any insights on funding at all?

SPITZBERGWell, it's certainly something that we do all struggle with. And I think what -- this conversation is -- today is one way to help all of us achieve funding because it's not just the arts intrinsically, although we are all supporters of the arts intrinsically, but it's all -- everything else that the arts brings, all the benefits that Jonathan just mentioned, and not just indeed in the communities we all serve. Ayize mentioned the shooting yesterday, and I know that there's reports that the people involved may be involved in groups...

NNAMDIIt may be gang-related.

SPITZBERGAnd it may be involved in -- but they're a gang that's right in the Sitar. And we have kids that live halfway between that corner and Sitar Arts Center, and we wanna provide an opportunity for them to make the positive choice to go down the Hill and visit us and be on our doors each afternoon instead of going up the Hill.

NNAMDIOriginally, most of the kids you serve were from Adams Morgan...

SPITZBERGMm-hmm.

NNAMDI...but now that's spread out some more. How does your location reflect the population you're serving?

SPITZBERGWell, we have grown and sort of grown concentrically. We're initially just Adams Morgan, and then we are Adams Morgan-Mount Pleasant-Columbia Heights. And now we do serve students throughout D.C., although it's still the highest concentration in our neighborhood. And because we are a community center and we are a community within our doors. We -- our population reflects that community. And we are -- again, we're 80 percent from -- of our kids come from families with low incomes. And the majority of our families are Latino, with the next large percentage being African-American and then about 10 percent everybody else.

NNAMDIAnd you're now serving, like, over 500 kids per semester?

SPITZBERGYes. This will be our largest semester ever, over 500 kids this semester, and over 700 throughout the year.

NNAMDIAyize Sabater, talk about your own childhood experiences. Did they influence your decision to open MOMIE's?

SABATERUnequivocally so. I grew up in the crime-ridden warzone of Crooklyn up in New York. And literally, even before I graduated from high school, my best friend was gunned down for getting involved in not the best crowd. And I -- you know, but for the grace of God, I wouldn't be sitting here, or community-based organizations that helped to provide a hedge or protection around me and even guide me in a positive direction. And I realized at that point that I have a debt to repay to society, to give back because somebody gave to me that I might even sit here right now with you. And so if -- out of anywhere to put my energy, it would be reaching back to help somebody else, just as somebody helped me.

NNAMDIBack to the telephones. Here is Jennifer in Washington, D.C. Jennifer, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

JENNIFERHey, Kojo. I wanna give a shout-out to Quique. I'm a professional actor here in D.C. and also work with -- had the honor and privilege to work with Paso Nuevo recently. But what I wanted to talk about was -- and this is directed to people who might be looking for places to put their money -- is that there's a basis for why these programs work, and that basis is empathy. Empathy in human beings came before we were able to speak. And the better able we are to be perceived, the behavior and what goes on with our fellow human being, even without them speaking to us, the better we are capable of surviving. So the ability to perceive empathy is a survival tool. And that -- with acting, with arts, with music, the reason that that's so effective is because it involves the use of the body.

JENNIFERAnd with the yoga as well because empathy by nature, as a rule, has to include somatic sensory information, and that is the best -- pass the information from the body, included with what we know as the brain. And that's the scientific base for why we really do need these programs in the schools. We need theaters in every neighborhood. For the adults as well, because a theater is a place or a performance is a place, whether it's music or theater -- it's a place where people can go to exercise their empathy in a non-stakes environment. It's like a gym for your emotions, and that is critical to our society. And I know -- I'm sure these other programs are wonderful, but I also know that Paso Nuevo does fantastic work and Quique is a wonderful, wonderful coordinator. I'm really...

NNAMDIThank you so much for your call, Jennifer. Quique, how do you measure your success at Paso Nuevo? I know that you don't like to label kids like -- as at risk, so how do you measure your success?

AVILESWell, one of the things that we got away from at some point was letting kids stay for just one session. So one of the ways we measure is our retention rates. You know, it's how many kids have been with us for one, two, three years. And that's -- it's amazing to see sometimes families. You know, so right now, we have an aunt and two brothers from the same family. We had three sisters from one -- the same family. So one of the ways that we measure our successes is by, you know, the level of commitment. You know, how they grow as actors, as writers, as poets, as musicians. And I think that the best way to do it is with this kind of like long-term process where you don't say, okay, thank you for your participation. Now, let's get the next group of kids.

NNAMDIJonathan Katz?

KATZYeah, I just wanted to pick up on our listener's point about how important empathy is and role-playing, because I think it's at the core of democratic practice. I mean, what -- the way you participate in a democracy is by being able to make your case and communicate it. You have to have a sense of what you think and how you can get somebody else to understand that, and then get -- try to get to a majority, you know? But the other thing is you have to listen to what they say, otherwise you don't have a society. You don't have a functioning democracy unless you train children to work this way. And that's also the way business works, and that's also the way learning works. You know, people -- it's hard to assume a role that you haven't tried on. It's hard to be somebody that you haven't seen and been exposed to. And the arts and humanities provide you with those things outside of your own experience.

NNAMDIGot a couple of comments on our website about the DC Youth Orchestra. One from Tanya. "The DC Youth Orchestra Program is a fabulous example of this. They just passed the 50-year mark. They offer classes for kids of all ages and income level. Every year, 600 kids participate in the program, many on scholarship." Another comment on the Web. "I wanted to say, as an alumnus of the DC Youth Orchestra Program from 30 years ago, I have friends who are black, white, Hispanic and from other cultures. Thanks to my time at that program, I never realized when I was in the program how unusual this mix of income levels and cultures was. Today, all the students who go through the program have graduated from high school, which is much higher than the average percentage in D.C. It shows what a success this program is for the youth of the D.C. area."

NNAMDIAnd this, a query from a listener. "I'm interested in starting a youth writing program in my community. What resources are out there to help some get started, both in regard to funding and in terms of what -- reaching out to and inspiring kids may involve?" Care to comment on that, Ayize?

SABATERI'd love to. First, I would say, Kojo, this one award that we're talking about, formerly known as Coming Up Taller, is known as the nation -- National Arts and Humanities Youth Programs Award. So this person that is interested in starting something up, they might wanna apply for this particular award because whoever receives it, also receives a $10,000, you know, grant for some arts and humanities programs. So they might wanna apply there.

NNAMDIThat also helps...

SPITZBERGYou may also note that D.C. Youth Orchestra, I believe, is a previous winner as well.

SABATERThere you go. They might also wanna consider checking out the Children & Youth Investment Trust. They funded many of us around the table. They might wanna check out, you know, some local foundations that do great work. Cafritz Foundation, also Philip Graham also help with the studio. So there are a number of folk that are interested. And, you know, last thing I just wanna say is, you know, MOMIE's is contending to try and receive this award. And so we would love for folk to check out our website, momiestlc.com. Send a testimonial so that we can prove our case and put us over the top to receive this, the nation's highest award for arts and humanities programs.

NNAMDIAnd here's finally Ann in Washington, D.C. Ann, you only have about 30 seconds. Go ahead, please.

JENNIFERI just wanted to mention dance, which is often a forgotten art and one of the first things the children do on their own to express their emotions or their empathy. And my daughter had the great luck of being in a children's dance company called the Primary Movers, where they actually address very serious topics. And it was amazing what it does to develop the children's empathy, to develop their creativity. And I would just encourage everyone who's looking at the arts to not forget this most basic of the arts, which is movement.

NNAMDIAnd you may have heard me mention Alice Walker before, she has a new book of portraits called "Hard Times Call for Furious Dancing."

JENNIFERAnd she's right. (laugh)

NNAMDIThank you very much for your call. I'm afraid that's all the time we have. Jonathan Katz is CEO of the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies. Thank you for joining us. Ed Spitzberg is executive director of Sitar Arts Center. Ayize Sabater is co-founder and CEO of Mentors of Minorities in Education's Total Learning Cis-Tem known as MOMIE's TLC. And Quique Aviles is project coordinator for Paso Nuevo at GALA Hispanic Theatre. Thank you all for joining. Good luck to all of you. And thank you all for listening. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.