Friendship Bridge Unites Oak Park, Lakeview Elementary Schools

The Friendship Bridge, waterfalls and gardens are the result of a Kennedy Center/MetLife grant.

A metaphoric bridge intended to span and embrace the differences between young students became a literal one, as The Friendship Bridge was officially dedicated on the grounds of Oak Park and Lakeview Elementary schools. The two side-by-side Sarasota County schools have always had a mostly unused bridge between them. Over the years, it had fallen into neglect and was pretty much forgotten—until Brenda Smoak, National Very Special Arts (VSA) Teaching Artist Fellow and Teaching Artist with the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, stepped in. “The students learned about each other and happily helped one another accomplish various tasks,” said Smoak, who is an occassional Patch contributor. “Having students work together like this at such a young …

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Sarasota and the Arts

Kennedy Center Picks Sarasota For Arts Education

This program creates a long-range arts education plan for students in Grades K-8th in Sarasota

Wednesday morning at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, the Kennedy Center announced that it is committed to working together with Sarasota to develop a long-range plan for arts education for every child in grades K-8.  Thundering applause filled the room as the program was explained. The plan, Any Given Child, will incorporate existing resources from the Sarasota County School District with those of local arts organizations and the Kennedy Center. The goal is to create a comprehensive arts education plan for the district. Any Given Child seeks to bring access, balance and equity to each child’s arts education, using an affordable model that combines the resources of the school district, local arts groups and the Kennedy Center. With the …

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