Whether or not you have a kid in school, the future depends on arts education.

 

The morning bell at Northgate Elementary cuts through the din of 250 students thronging backpacked and bleary-eyed down the school’s linoleum halls. Lockers slam, sneakers squeak, another bell wails as kids of every color and shape, in hoodies and hijabs, funnel into classrooms. Inside Zac Stowell’s classroom, 18 fourth and fifth graders arrange themselves in front of their desks, aligned around the perimeter of Room 16.