Students Need Joy, Community and Fulfillment

Posted by The Philadelphia Citizen on November 26, 2024

Valerie Gay remembers vividly everything about that December night years ago: where she sat at the Academy of Music, what she wore, how cold it was. And most of all, what happened inside of her when soprano Jessye Norman launched into her first aria during Opera Philadelphia’s performance of Dido and Aeneas.

“I never knew how opera could prick my heart until I heard her sing,” Gay recalls, adding how moved she was to see a woman with skin as black as hers standing center stage. “If it weren’t for that night, I wouldn’t be sitting here today.”

By “here,” Gay is referring to the post of chief cultural officer for the City of Philadelphia where she manages the city’s arts programs, the latest peak in a distinguished career as a vocal artist and museum official that began with her experience in choir at Girls High.

Gay’s early experience, her in-person encounter with the arts, is typical, not rare. Most people recall a moment from their school days that had nothing to do with tests, test tubes or textbooks, but which they treasure to this day. It might have been the time their robotics team took that trophy. Or their volleyball team went to states. Or when they:

• Had that first speaking part in a school play.
• Gazed at their artwork up on a wall with a ribbon hanging from it.
• Led the way as a group of quarrelsome teens transformed into a top-notch park cleanup team.

These are the experiences that spark joy, that show them what could be and how they could be part of it, that light their path to confidence, commitment and lifelong passions.

Collectively, we call such opportunities, and the unforgettable moments, lessons and inspiration they produce, by this name: enrichment.

These activities are not frills. They are as fundamental to students’ growth — and their future capacity as workers and citizens — as learning computer code, the periodic table, or the causes of the Civil War. Research shows that enrichment programs actually make some students more eager to come to school each day.

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