Bass Performance Hall education program celebrates 2 millionth student

Romina Rosas has been coming to Bass Performance Hall since she was in kindergarten. Or, maybe since first grade. She doesn’t quite remember, she said.

The fifth grader at Fort Worth ISD’s Sam Rosen Elementary does remember seeing “The Nutcracker” and “The Magic School Bus.” She certainly recalls the actors, the music and the size of the performance hall.

But her visit Oct. 15 was different.

This time, Romina walked through the doors as the 2 millionth participant in Performing Arts Fort Worth’s Children’s Education Program. 

“It means a lot to me with all the great actors, great music, the great performances here,” Romina said.

The milestone comes nearly three decades after arts education was built into Bass Performance Hall’s mission — and 14 years after the program welcomed its 1 millionth participant. The downtown venue was always envisioned as a living classroom for students, Performing Arts Fort Worth leaders and board members said.

Since 1998, the Children’s Education Program has provided arts experiences to students and educators free of charge. Through student matinees, literacy programs, summer camps, virtual programming and opportunities to interact with performers, the program brings the performing arts to kids who might not otherwise experience them.

Performing Arts Fort Worth leaders celebrated the milestone Oct. 15 before a student matinee of “Ellis Island: The Dream of America,” performed by artists from the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and TCU’s theater department.

Yearly visits have helped make Romina feel the arts are something she can be a part of, she said.

“I’m very grateful for being here and learning all this new stuff,” she said.

She would like to perform one day, she said.

Pat Linares, a member of the Performing Arts Fort Worth board, said an in-person performance offers students an experience they cannot get by watching online or even inside a classroom.

“They’re able to see the actors. They’re able to connect with the actors in a way that you can’t do online,” Linares said.

Then there is simply walking into Bass Hall.

“Most of our children will never get the opportunity to come to Bass Hall if it wasn’t for this program,” said Linares, a former longtime FWISD leader. “You can see it on their faces when they walk in and their eyes light up,” she said, noting the novelty of the experience for many students.

FWISD has been central to the program since its beginning, said Dione Kennedy, Performing Arts Fort Worth president and CEO. School district leaders, including Superintendent Peter Licata, were there to ring in the milestone.

Performing Arts Fort Worth board chair Elaine Agather thanked FWISD for its 28-year commitment to the program.

“And we’re staying with it,” Licata interjected. 

Jennifer Giddings Brooks, chair of Performing Arts Fort Worth’s Education and Engagement Committee, said every FWISD student in first through fifth grades attends a Bass Hall performance each year as part of the district’s curriculum. Middle and high school students are provided opportunities through additional programs.

While the programming is free for students, it is not free to produce, Kennedy said. Donations from individuals, corporations and foundations, along with staff members and hundreds of volunteers, help sustain it.

The program also has expanded beyond traditional student matinees. Linares pointed to adaptive performances designed for children, including some students with autism or ADHD, who may be sensitive to sounds or other elements of a traditional show.

Arts experiences also have value beyond preparing future actors, musicians or dancers, organizers said.

Participation in the arts is associated with better attendance and behavior and can support language, motor skills, empathy and learning in other academic subjects, said Brooks, a former FWISD principal.

“The arts are critical to the development of well-rounded students,” she said.

As public schools, particularly Fort Worth ISD, face sustained pressure to improve reading, math and other tested subjects, that argument is crucial, Linares said.

The arts should not be viewed as separate from students’ academic development, she said.

“We want to educate the whole child,” Linares said. “We want to be able to provide students with opportunities that they wouldn’t get otherwise.”

Students attending a performance are doing something different than sitting through another classroom lesson, she said.

“They’re actually experiencing life,” Linares said.

Capacity is a challenge as organizers consider reaching students in districts such as Arlington and White Settlement.

Keeping the experiences free for students was intentional from the beginning, Agather said.

She hopes the organization will eventually gather again to recognize its 3 millionth participant.

“We’ve just begun,” she said.

As Agather finished speaking, she had a surprise for Romina and her mother, Susana Rosas. Performing Arts Fort Worth invited them back as special guests for “The Sound of Music” in the spring. 

Romina is looking forward to it. After all, Bass Hall helped her imagine what might be possible for herself.

“I know that I have a great future ahead,” she said.

Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at [email protected] or @matthewsgroi1.

Disclosure: FWISD manager Pete Geren leads the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. FWISD manager Laurie George is a member of the Report’s reader advisory council. Elaine Agather is the wife of Report board of directors member Neils Agather.

At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.