Grantee Highlight: Summer Performing Arts (SPA) Company

​The Grand Forks Public Schools Summer Performing Arts Company (SPA) has just completed its 37th season. 1,153 area students participated in SPA this summer – a record-breaking year of enrollment.

SPA offers various Fine Arts programs for students of all ages and abilities. Programs vary in length and curriculum depending on the age group, and all culminate in a performance opportunity.

• Pre-K and Elementary students participate in a workshop of creative dramatics, theatre games, and movement exercises.
• Middle School students have a workshop-style program that focuses on drama, movement, and vocal music.
• High School students work on stage and behind the scenes on main stage musical productions.
• Bands on the Red is a three-week band program that focuses on lighter music like movie themes, show tunes, and marches.
• MySPA is an Arts opportunity developed for students with special needs or challenges. It focuses on a variety of creative expression including drama, music, movement, literature and visual arts.
• SPA provides guest artists in various disciplines to work with Multilingual students taking Summer School. In addition, vocal and instrumental lessons are offered as well.  

Our High School mainstage productions this summer were “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” and “Grease”. We were fortunate to have full houses for all of our performances, and we are grateful for the community support.

Because SPA has gained so much community support through the years, we feel it is important to give back to the community that is so generous to us. This summer, we hosted a spare change drive to benefit the Grand Forks Foundation for Education Giving Tree and the Santa Claus Girls – two programs that help many area children and students. The Giving Tree helps Grand Forks Public Schools students and their families by providing a pantry stocked with critical items such as personal care products, essential household items, school supplies, snacks, and more. The Santa Claus Girls provide a gift bag that includes a toy, candy, reading book, coloring book/crayons, toothbrush and toothpaste, hat, gloves, and socks to children aged 12 and under from low-income families during the holiday season.

One of the greatest accomplishments of the SPA program is that no student has ever been turned away from participation due to financial hardship. Because of private donations and grant programs such as those offered through the Community Foundation of Grand Forks, East Grand Forks, and Region, we were able to assist 110 students this summer. Post-COVID, the requests for assistance have steadily increased. The number of extreme hardship cases has increased as well. Though Arts education is the primary focus of the program, we recognize the importance of providing a safe and positive environment for our students.  In some cases, SPA may be one of the only safe spaces some students may encounter outside of the school year. Supporting all students’ mental health and social well-being is critical.
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All in all, 2024 was a tremendous season for SPA. We thank everyone for their continued support to ensure that all of our students shine brightly on stage and behind the scenes.