Waupaca Arts Hub: Filling the 6,000-hour gap with Creativity and Community
When we talk about learning, most people picture classrooms, tests, and report cards. But the experiences children have outside school — the music lesson, the Saturday art class, the after-school theater rehearsal, the summer museum visit — are wonderful ways to fuel learning. The Waupaca Arts Hub provides that fuel for more families, offering year-round arts instruction for children, teens, and adults, and creating a community-centered space where informal learning thrives.
Research and practice increasingly show that informal and out-of-school learning are critical to long-term outcomes: these experiences build creativity, problem-solving, persistence, social skills, and practical know-how. This is true for both youth and adults.
We know that by 6th grade, those from higher-income families have experienced roughly 6,000 more hours of enrichment and out-of-school learning than their peers born into poverty. That gap comes from differences in access to preschool, summer camps, private lessons, and other extra-school enrichment. In real terms, 6,000 hours is equivalent to several years of additional learning time — and this gap contributes to a difference in opportunity that grows over a lifetime.
Classes at the Arts Hub are in reach for most students because of our tuition-assistance program, funded by individuals and businesses in our generous community. Now, as we offer our next group of classes and plan our move to the new building in January, we ask you to help us spread the word about our classes and opportunities for help with tuition. It is our goal that cost is never a barrier to music, art, or STEAM classes for any youth in our area.
If you are interested in our tuition assistance programs, click on the button below.
If you want to read more about the 6,000 gap, check out these sites:
