Dallas City of Learning Partners: All Stars Project of Dallas

Established: September 2013, by the All Stars Project leadership team, including Antoine Joyce, City Leader of the All Stars Project of Dallas, with support from Dallas Board Chair Hunter Hunt.

About: The developmental power of performance transforms lives. At the All Stars Project of Dallas, youth and poor communities experience rejuvenation with the guidance and partnership of caring adults. All Stars programs teach performances onstage and off. Students try new things, they mature emotionally and intellectually, and they begin to envision a future full of possibilities for themselves and their communities. All Stars creates free, outside-of-school programs – the All Stars Talent Show Network and the Development School for Youth – for inner city youth and their families. These programs provide development via performance as a tool for the stage and for life.

Why Is Summer Learning So Important?

“There is much debate about how to combat the achievement gap amongst students in poor communities and their affluent counterparts,” says Joyce. “We believe that after school is the best way to bring young people into the mainstream, to make them more worldly and to help them grow and develop. When youth develop, they learn. The summer is a perfect time to spark development in youth, to give them opportunities to be curious about exploring the world, and to help them appreciate what the find. This kind of developmental summer experience can support them to be curious and eager to learn during the school year.”

Why partner with Dallas City of Learning?

“We partnered with DCoL from the beginning because we believe in connecting young people to resources across the city,” says Joyce. “The DCoL platform allows youth to do this in a fun way.”

How does your participation in Dallas City of Learning benefit All Stars kids?

“Dallas City of Learning gives youth access to use the city as a campus for development and learning,” says Joyce. “The All Stars Project can support our youth more when they have access to other quality programs throughout the city, especially opportunities that can help them envision new possibilities for themselves and their communities. We are proud to be a third year partner with DCoL and to continue to offer all youth of Dallas the opportunity to grow across the city.”

What is your vision and passion for the future of education?

“My vision for one aspect of the future of education is that it becomes a platform to support every child to be connected to quality after school programs and developmental experiences,” says Joyce. “Kids need more than just reading and math. They need arts and culture. They need exposure to the corporate world and opportunities to travel outside of their neighborhoods. They need to explore the world! If we can embrace this, we can give young people, especially those growing up in our poor communities of Dallas and around the country, a more worthwhile educational experience.”

— Mario Tarradell