When arts educator Nicole Davis moved to Atlanta from New Jersey, she started looking for a way to stay involved in community education. In 2015, she found her niche in a place she’d never heard of: the Fox Theatre.
“I had zero knowledge about it,” said Davis. “But I was blown away. I’d never seen anything like it, from the Egyptian ballroom to the ceiling. I loved the overall aesthetics and how it’s been maintained to look like it did in 1929.”
Davis became a teaching assistant with Fox in a Box, a program she takes to kindergarten through fifth graders in Atlanta and 13 metro county school districts. While it gives her the chance to share her enthusiasm for the historic venue, the ultimate goal isn’t about promoting the Fox.
“Arts are often the first area that gets cut,” she said. “I was drawn to this because it’s a free program to educate and keep the arts alive. Yes, I get to share what I know about the Fox with young folk who live in the community, but we cover much more, even down to what kind of jobs they can get there.”
Debuting in 2014, Fox in a Box was designed to meet state curriculum standards with lessons in history, architecture, historic preservation, performing arts, urban planning and civil rights. Materials such as foldout displays, panels, videos, teachers’ guides and activity materials literally come out of one box to bring those topics to life through the lens of the theater that will turn 100 in five years.
The outreach started with public schools in the Fox’s Midtown neighborhood and expanded to independent schools, home-schoolers and camps. In 2019, a partnership with public libraries brought a virtual version around the state. The latest update translated the program into Spanish.
“The virtual version started in response to COVID, and it’s helped our goal to be more state focused,” said Leigh Burns, the Fox’s community partnerships director. “So far, 67 schools and 59 home schooling families have used the virtual version, and our goal is to be in all 159 counties. It’s a lofty goal, but I think we’ll get there.”
To date, 45,200 students in 175 schools have participated. The program particularly resonates with teachers of music and visual and performing arts, Burns said. “It gives them a sense of what it’s like to be on the Fox stage as well as a sense of history. Teachers can get very creative with their own lessons and spin them off the program.”
The program is funded by the Georgia Council for the Arts, the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Fulton County Arts and Culture, the National Endowment for the Arts and corporate sponsorships. Information is online at foxtheatre.org/community-partnerships/fox-in-a-box.
MAKING THE GRADE
SEND US YOUR STORIES. Each week we look at programs, projects and successful endeavors at area schools, from pre-K to grad school. To suggest a story, contact H.M. Cauley at hm_cauley@yahoo.com or 770-744-3042.
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