Student Matinee Performances
The Smith Center invites students and teachers from public, private and charter schools across Southern Nevada to attend matinee performances in its theaters throughout the school year.
Learn and Engage
For Teachers and Students
“All the students loved watching the live performance. They loved it and said they were going to ask their parents to take them back to watch another play.”
-Participating Teacher
The Smith Center offers a variety of valuable programs and experiences for teachers and students that serve to enrich lives through engagement with the arts, thereby enhancing the overall educational experience.
Highlighted Programs For Teachers and Students
Professional Development
The Smith Center is proud to partner with the Clark County School District in the Partners in Education Program of The John F. Kennedy Center For the Performing Arts to offer creative new strategies for implementing the arts in classroom learning.
Disney Musicals In Schools
Through its Disney Musicals in Schools initiative, The Smith Center has helped over 40 under-resourced elementary schools across Southern Nevada create their own sustainable musical theater programs.
Nevada High School Musical Theater Awards
The Smith Center’s Nevada High School Musical Theater Awards honors all of the performers and talents involved with Nevada’s top high school musical productions.
“For most of my students, it was the first time they were seeing a live performance. They were so impressed with The Smith Center. Thank you for giving them the opportunity to attend.”
Participating Teacher
Explore More from Education and Outreach
Teaching Artists
Teaching artists are professional artists who apply their creative skills in educational settings. These artists hail from extensive careers in dance, theater, vocal and instrumental music and storytelling.
Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child
The Kennedy Center’s Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child program is designed to assist communities throughout the U.S. in developing and implementing a strategic plan for expanded arts education for kindergarten through 8th-grade students, ensuring equity and access for all.
Master Classes and Workshops
The Smith Center presents exceptional opportunities for students, teachers and community members to participate in master classes, workshops, dress rehearsals and talkback opportunities with leading performers and nationally acclaimed teaching artists.
Access to the Arts
The Smith Center provides opportunities for schools and community groups to attend select evening performances. Concerts and individual engagement performances in a variety of arts disciplines are offered to individual classes, school ensembles, or community groups which will support each group’s area of study or focus.
Early Learning Through The Arts
An affiliate of the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts™, Southern Nevada Wolf Trap Early Learning Through the Arts places professional teaching artists in classroom residencies to partner with early childhood educators of children ages three to five years old.
Artist Residencies
Many of our Teaching Artists work with teachers and students in classrooms and after-school settings as well as community centers. Artists offer engaging arts programs to enhance a school or organization’s goals for their students and participants.
In-School Performances
Throughout the school year, a limited number of local, regional, and national performing artists visit schools to engage and inspire students of all ages through performances and lecture demonstrations. The goal of artists visiting schools is to share artistic experiences with as many students as possible.