The 2021 Youth Enrichment Services (YES) Theater Series is put on for children in kindergarten through seventh grade at Mount Vernon’s Knox Memorial Theater.

Facilitated by the Knox Educational Service Center, the YES series is funded by the Knox County Foundation, except for three “Frozen” performances staged by MTVarts.

Tony West and The Imani Dancers opened the series for a sixth-grade audience on Sept. 9, followed by MTVarts’ production of “Frozen Kids” for kindergartners on Sept. 17.

All county schools participate, including Centerburg, Danville, East Knox, Fredericktown, Mount Vernon City and St. Vincent de Paul.

The series continues this week with MTVarts staging two shows of “Frozen Jr.,” based on the Disney classic, for first- and second-graders. All county schools except Mount Vernon will see the performance on Thursday, then Mount Vernon students on Friday.

Bruce Jacklin, artistic director for MTVarts, said young people cast in the productions plus children who see the shows benefit from the Arts IQ program.

“Arts IQ was created with two major objectives. Both are of equal value and focus,” Jacklin said. “We select material that is age-appropriate, yet challenging to our young actors in training. We also introduce our youngest audience members to the etiquette of being a theater consumer.

“Our actors are exposed to all the hard work and dedication in mounting a major musical, and our 5- to 7-year-olds are taught to observe, listen, respond and respect live theater.”

Like “Tony West and The Imani Dancers” earlier in September, the remaining six shows in the series will be sponsored by the Knox County Foundation.

“The Knox County Foundation is honored to sponsor the Youth Enrichment Series each year for Knox County students,” said Lisa Lloyd, KCF program director. “We highly value the opportunity YES provides students to see live theatrical performances. These performances help encourage and expand students’ creativity by exposing them to the talents of others.

“We thank the Knox Educational Service Center for their work in putting this valuable series together.”

The remaining performances, which again will involve all county schools, include:

Oct. 5: comedian-actor Robert Post, for seventh-graders

Oct. 6: MadCap Puppets, “Jack and the Gentle Giant,” for third-graders

Oct. 13: Eric Paton, world-class drummer, for fifth-graders

Oct. 14: MadCap Puppets, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” for second-graders

Oct. 19: Ballet Met, for fourth-graders

Oct. 27: Vocalist Sarah Reed, for first-graders

Taylor Gingery, gifted/enrichment coordinator for Knox Educational Service Center, expressed the ESC’s thanks to Memorial Theater, Knox County Foundation and MTVarts.

“The arts help us express and share the deepest parts of our humanity,” she said. “It is a privilege to provide these enrichment experiences to the youth of our county.”

Submitted by Larry Gibbs, Knox ESC.