"I have long believed in the important role that music and the arts can play in helping students learn, achieve and succeed. Education in theater, dance and the visual arts is one of the most creative ways we have to find the gold that is buried just beneath the surface. They (children) have enthusiasm for life, a spark of creativity and vivid imaginations that need training...training that prepares them to become confident young men and women."-- US Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley AMC News, 3/21/98

PECAN, Inc. (Progressive Education of Children in the Arts Network, Inc.) is a referral system, designed to enable children interested in any type of art form to enlist the help and support of this organization to pursue activities and instruction that relate to their interest.

It is an umbrella organization serving as a conduit to bring together organizations that play a role in the development and encouragement of the arts for young people. PECAN, Inc. will represent organizations and instructors that offer the arts to children as well as provide information about the arts that can be accessed by anyone at no cost.

Our Mission Statement:

"The Mission of Progressive Education of Children in the Arts Network, Inc. is to aid and support the development of young people into confident human beings through participation in music and the arts."

Our goals:

• To encourage positive development of youth through education in the arts.
• To aid the public in accessing the broad range of resources in the arts available for children including those children at risk or with disabilities.
• To recognize, commend and promote those individuals and organizations who are bringing the arts to young people.
• To support the development of young people into magnificent human beings through participation in the performing arts.

Why create PECAN, Inc.?

• To help bring an awareness of what is being offered for children in the arts. 
• If a family is to move away to another area, PECAN, Inc. would help them locate an art organization or an instructor with whom they can continue their chosen activity. This will help avoid the struggle of trying to find information which can waste precious time in the child’s development. 
• To promote demonstrations and/or participation in different types of art in the school setting or camps or workshops helping to open up areas to youth who are not being exposed to the arts. 
• To help bring more youth into arts activities, including those with disabilities and those at risk. 
• To help spark talents that would otherwise be lost without nurturing of information and participation. 
• To highlight and commend instructors and organizations for what they have to offer youth in the music and the arts.

Why Art for Youth?
Music and art for youth are documented to be meaningful, purposeful, and productive distractions that can make or change a child’s life forever. The acronym “Pecan” has meaning in that a child can be considered in a shell until something of interest comes along that “cracks” that shell and reveals the wonderful fruit inside. PECAN, Inc. will help to increase the awareness of opportunities in music and the arts for youth so that they can become the best that they can be. 

PECAN, Inc. founder Shirley D. Nolt

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