Any Given Child hires new program coordinator to bring arts to all in Iowa City Community School District

Debbie Yarrow, 49, always has been shy.

Public speaking makes her dizzy and has even caused her to faint on more than one occasion.

But from behind the mouthpiece of her saxophone — an instrument she picked up in fourth grade, inspired by her appreciation for jazz and swing musicians such as Count Basie, Boots Randolph and Glenn Miller — being in the spotlight doesn't seem to matter anymore.

In fact, that's where she developed a confidence and creativity that she doesn't think she'd have found any other way, she said.

Music, she said, 'builds character, confidence, creativity and individuality. It's so important that students have an opportunity to access that.'

As Any Given Child Iowa City's new program coordinator, Yarrow will have the chance to embody that sentiment, making sure every student in the district has the same opportunity to get involved in the arts.

Any Given Child is a program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. It assists cities throughout the nation in providing an equitable arts education for all kindergartners through eighth-graders by connecting a city's school district to its local arts community.

Iowa City was designated as the eighth Any Given Child city in 2012. There are now 20 Any Given Child cities in the nation.

Yarrow was hired as the program coordinator in December after more than 20 years working in music education.

The Ohio-native earned her bachelor's degree in music education from Ohio State University — where she was the first woman to play saxophone in the school's Jazz Ensemble — in 1989 before starting her first job as a middle school band director in California. While working on her master's degrees in music education and woodwind performance from the University of North Texas from 1994 to 1996, she completed a woodwind faculty fellowship at Howard Payne University.

Following graduation, she directed another band in Maryland until 2000, when she moved on to the Association of American College and Universities on the Greater Expectations project in Washington, D.C., until 2003. Then she moved to rural Virginia and volunteered for the Bath County school district, creating arts opportunities including a drama club, Read Across America Day, the Garth Newel Music Center Suzuki program and more.

In 2009, she moved to Iowa City, where she became the conservatory director of West Music where she still teaches saxophone lessons today, in addition to her part-time Any Given Child position.

But it was in her first job in California that Yarrow said her eyes were 'immediately opened' to the 'haves and don't-haves.'

Many families in the impoverished town south of Fresno didn't have the financial resources to purchase their own instruments. But being able to play with the school's loaned instruments really 'made a difference' in their lives, she said.

Although Iowa City is in better shape than other districts she's seen — with an already 'flourishing' arts scene, and 'great opportunities for arts experiences' for many of the district's students — a recent survey of the city's educators, arts organizations and local artists found 'gaps,' including a lack of arts opportunities for kindergartners through second-graders and seventh through eighth-graders, a lack of theater and dance in the school curriculum and, depending on which school a student attends in the district, opportunities available may vary greatly from another school nearby.

'Some PTOs (parent teacher organizations) are very successful in their fundraising and can provide extra opportunities while other schools don't have that,' Yarrow said.

As coordinator, she'll serve as a point of contact between the school district and local arts organizations by integrating arts into the curriculum, using resources already available in the community and bringing the attention back to 'how significant the arts are in students learning and achievement,' she noted.

'We're really trying to provide equity in arts experiences during the school day,' she said. 'That way we can actually reach every child.'