Community Foundation of the Ozarks

One of the new programs included in this year’s Ozarks Empowerment Project initiative – The Learning Community – was featured on this morning’s “Making a Difference” segment on KSMU, Springfield’s public radio station.

The Learning Community is an in-depth training opportunity being offered to 10 CFO agency partners in its first year. In addition to day-long educational sessions, trainer Tiffany Applegate, co-founder of  X Factor Consulting, also works one-on-one with each participant to customize the material to their own organization’s needs.

The “Making a Difference” segment, produced by Mike Smith, profiled two of those participants, veteran non-profit leader Bonnie Keller of Ronald McDonald House, and a newer leader, Caitlin Kissee, the business affairs manager for the Springfield Ballet.

On September 13, the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, the Springfield Regional Arts Council and Springfield Public Schools hosted the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as they launched the implementation phase of the Any Given Child program. The event also included the premiere of “Any Given Child-Springfield,” a short film by local filmmakers Bryan Manning and Clay Mason, which highlights the active local arts scene and explains the Kennedy Center program.

Springfield is just the second (and one of seven overall) cities to be selected as part of the Any Given Child initiative, which focuses on creating, establishing and sustaining parts programming in communities and schools, with a focus on youth. Other cities in the program include Sacramento, Calif., Portland, Ore., Sarasota, Fla., Tulsa, Okla., Las Vegas and most recently, Austin, Texas. Read our original event-recap post here.

Below is the full version of “Any Given Child-Springfield,” which shines a wonderful light on local arts organizations. Please take the time to watch it and share it with friends.

Any Given Child (2011) from Bryan Manning on Vimeo.

At the Moxie Cinema, Springfield’s arts scene was the star of the show when the Community Foundation of the Ozarks, the Springfield Regional Arts Council and Springfield Public Schools hosted the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Tuesday afternoon and premiered a short film highlighting the scene.

The guest of honor was Darrell Ayers, vice-president in charge of education for the Washington D.C.-based Kennedy Center. Springfield is just the second (and one of seven overall) cities to be selected as part of the Any Given Child initiative, which focuses on creating, establishing and sustaining parts programming in communities and schools, with a focus on youth. Other cities in the program include Sacramento, Calif., Portland, Ore., Sarasota, Fla., Tulsa, Okla., Las Vegas and most recently, Austin, Texas.

It’s auspicious company for Springfield, but deserved, Ayers said, because of the sheer number of active arts organizations in the community. Add to that Springfield’s strong school system and diverse demographics (not so much in ethnicity, but in socio-economic terms) and the opportunity to reach and help a wide variety of children was apparent. Now starts the implementation process; with the Kennedy Center’s backing, arts organizations and the public schools should be able to offer even more arts programs that will be available for years to come.

Hosted at Moxie Cinema, Springfield’s non-profit independent theatre with a fund at the CFO, the event premiered the short film “Any Given Child-Springfield”, made by local filmmakers and SPS alumni Bryan Manning and Clay Mason. The final version of the film will be finished soon; we’ll post the delightful film once it’s through the final editing process.