The expansion of free Lied Center performances to all students in the Lawrence school district is a great gift to the community.

For many years, local elementary school students have been able to enjoy a selected Lied Center performance each year. Now, thanks to fundraising efforts by the Lied Center and the Lawrence Schools Foundation, the program will be extended to include middle school and high school students. During the coming school year, kindergartners through second-graders will see “Big Bad Wolf,” and third- through fifth-graders will see the theater performance “Mistatim” set on the boundary between a Native American reservation and a ranch. Middle school students will see “Out of Bounds,” a theater performance that deals with cyber bullying, and high school students will enjoy “Black Violin,” a hip-hop musical group.

Exposing local students to high-level performance art is a wonderful benefit in itself, but the program also will provide study guides and workshops to help teachers incorporate the performances into their curriculum. The performances can provide a different way for students to experience and explore educational topics.

Outreach to students and other people across the state who may not have easy access to the arts has always been a priority for the Lied Center and its benefactor, Christina Hixson. Making sure that every student in Lawrence, regardless of their socioeconomic circumstances, can attend at least one Lied Center performance this year fits perfectly with that priority.

An event sponsored earlier this year raised enough money to fund the school-only performances for four or five years, according to Adina Morse, executive director of the schools foundation, and the two groups hope another event on Nov. 2 will raise enough to make the performances a permanent part of the Lied Center program. Thanks to the schools foundation, the Lied Center and all of the donors who made the expansion of the schools-only performances possible. Hopefully, the next event will ensure that all future Lawrence students can share in the same artistic and educational benefits of a Lied Center performance.