Child Who Loves The Arts? Kansas City Young Audiences Sparks Their Imagination

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This post about Kansas City Young Audiences
was originally presented at HeSaysSheSaysKC.com under Brent’s pen.

Love fostering education and development of art for kids? Familiar with Kansas City Young Audiences (KCYA)? “Nope” (or some variation) is a common response. Don’t feel bad. Up until about a year ago I wasn’t familiar with KCYA either. Now … I’m on the board.

It’s common because Kansas City Young Audiences is often the spark behind a child’s creativity in a Kansas City classroom, but it often doesn’t play a front-and-center role.

And how could it?

So … Becca and I have two children. Our son, “G”, is a full-fledged teenager and our daughter, “D”, is a pre-teen. One of our mealtime rituals is to play a game of “best part of your day/worst part of your day.”

She: When we actually can sit down for a meal.

“D” also loves that KCYA has their own line of chocolate bars, courtesy of André’s Confiserie Suisse.

School — and the arts, in fact — often make their way into the game. We encourage art for our kids and reading in the home. Becca enjoys painting. I write creatively.

But here was the typical exchange when they were younger:

Kids: “We did this awesome art project in school today, involving XYC. There was this really nice, funny lady (or gentlemen) who came in to show us how to do it.”

Us: “Very cool! I’d love to see it. Do you remember who the artist was … or where they were from?”

Kids: “Uh. Hmmm. Nope.”

It’s a pretty good likelihood that Kansas City Young Audiences helped arrange having that guest artist attend the classroom.

Already share in the pain of my household and know we can do better to support art for kids in Kansas City? Then …

Donate Now to Kansas City Young Audiences

So … Who is Kansas City Young Audiences (KCYA)?

Since 1961, Kansas City Young Audiences (KCYA) has been the leading provider of high-quality arts education in the KC metro. Established as a non-profit agency by a group of dedicated volunteers, KCYA’s original mission was to provide children in Kansas City schools an opportunity to see and hear classical music performances.

Over the years it’s grown into so much more to foster art for kids in Kansas City. Continue reading →

New ‘Marketing to Gen Z’ Examines Astonishing Generation!

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Angie and Brent at one of their regular coffee meetups.

This ‘Marketing to Gen Z’ review
was originally posted at HeSaysSheSaysKC.com under Brent’s pen.

I often think about what world we’ll leave behind for our children. In my case, it’s Becca and my 15-year-old son, known affectionately here as “G”, and our 12-year-old daughter, aka “D.”

So … when my friend Angie, who I’d regularly meet for coffee, discussed her passion for our respective kids’ generation (Gen Z) and the macro trends associated with how they approach the world, I was all ears.

After a few of those coffee sit downs, I encouraged her (or prodded her — depends whom you ask) to write a book.

And she did.  If you’re not familiar with the term Gen Z, it refers to the generation after Millennial or people born from approximately the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s.

It’s ostensibly a marketing book about Gen Z. But it’s also so much more. Why?

Because Gen Z Is a Force Changing The World

Angie Read's Book - Marketing to Gen ZBelieve it or not, Gen Z entered the workforce in the last few years. And unless you’ve had your head buried in the sand, Gen Z has largely been the driving force in the #neveragain and March For Our Lives gun control debate. After the recent Parkland, Florida, school shooting, the students took control.

If you know anything about this generation, this is not some situational anomaly. Continue reading →