Anna's Arts for Kids @ St. Anna's Episcopal Church

Anna’s Arts for Kids is a non-profit organization in the recovery district of New Orleans. It was formed to help the local at-risk youth in areas of academia and the arts. The goal of the program is to provide a safe place to experience learning and the arts for the most at-risk children in New Orleans with a year-end enrollment of 75 students. Our anticipated outcome is: increased academic success at school; a heightened sense of self-esteem & self-worth; a genuine appreciation for diversity; an affinity for community service; and a keen appreciation for creativity.

We are a program of St. Anna’s Episcopal Church, a diverse, social justice-oriented congregation which has supported our activities since early 2010. Anna’s Arts for Kids strives to create an inclusive environment in which staff, students, and volunteers share responsibility for the vision and success of our activities.

Anna’s Arts for Kids emphasizes the exploration and discovery of analogies, relationships and metaphors. Our approach requires students to apply the process of inquiry and integrate specific disciplinary skills and knowledge into a broader context. Innovative interdisciplinary teaching begins with questions, unites teachers and students as learners and investigators, and makes innovative use of community resources.

This partnership between the arts and academics enriches underfunded school curriculums, demonstrates new methods of learning, enhances literacy skills and applies them to classroom learning, fosters self-discipline and personal responsibility, builds self-esteem, motivates the student’s quest for knowledge, and demonstrates the intrinsic value of the arts in everyday life.

MISSION STATEMENT

To enrich the lives of youth and their families in the Greater New Orleans region, through academic enrichment and training in and exposure to the arts.

VISION OF THE ORGINIZATION

I. Academic Enrichment:

• Goals are to help youth improve their academic performance, self-confidence, and sense of empowerment through:
  • After-School Tutoring for children ages 4-14 in all areas of academia
  • Weekly LEAP Prep Tutoring for children grades 4-8

II. Artistic Development

• Goals are to provide initial exposure to the arts, to open avenues to other cultures through the arts, and to allow for cognitive skill development. The following activities are currently offered by Anna’s Arts:
  • Choir
  • Visual Arts
  • Drama
  • Recorder
  • African Dance
  • Ballet
  • Music Therapy
  • Guitar
  • Violin
  • Etiquette
  • Gymnastics
  • Cheerleading

III. Community Service:

• Goals are to teach our students the importance of giving back through service, to develop children’s character development, confidence, and respect for self and other, to contribute to the re-building of the city and community, and to positively and effectively lead. The goals will be reached assistance the direction of our 4-H club.

IV. Environmental Awareness:

• Goal is to teach youth to respect nature and develop an understanding of man’s role in protecting the environment. This will be coupled with a healthy living component introducing fruits and vegetables into the student’s daily meals.