For the past 25 years, Lorain County Community College has been an advocate for supporting the arts and humanities in education by playing host to the Student Matinee Series during the academic year. The series includes drama productions in the LCCC Paul Stocker Humanities and Fine Arts Center — about 10 plays a year.
The series hosts drama and production groups for each act from all over the country, including TheaterworksUSA and Eckerd Theater Co. The productions serve as a way to get kids more involved in the arts and is open to the public for $4 a show.
“There have been countless studies that show when kids are exposed to arts, they do better in math and science and perform better in everything overall,” says Janet Herman Barlow, director of the Stocker Arts Center.
The Student Matinee Series offers study guides for teachers, including lesson plans and discussions for the performances. Most shows in the series are geared toward younger audiences but older audiences can attend as well. In prior years the series has included classic productions such as “Bye Bye Birdie,” as well as new cultural experiences for the kids, such as the Arts Midwest World Fest from China. — Cassandra Beck
