Education & Classes in Kansas City

The professional instructors of the Kansas City School of Music pass along musical torches to students learning the basics of strumming strings or tickling ivories during private and group lessons. Private studios insulated with soundproof walls ensure maximum concentration for students sight reading on acoustic pianos or turning the pages of sheet music with their minds. No more than six pupils attend each group session, which takes place in spacious, temperature-controlled rooms. Each instructor follows a comprehensive curricula and encourages students to participate in recitals.

The crew at Air Associates of Kansas helps pilots conquer gravity and take to the skies with maintenance and charter services and trains new flyers within its Cessna Pilot Center. Certified flight instructors put students behind the controls of Cessna aircraft and introduce them to the joys of soaring among clouds and nature's most persistent penguins. A computer-based curriculum assists the instructors as they help their pupils work through programs for attaining private, instrument, and commercial licenses.

In addition to their instructional services, Air Associates of Kansas' maintenance technicians can look after single-engine aircraft for already-certified pilots. The techs fuel up planes and make repairs while their clients relax in the lounge and wait to sprout feathers.

Spurred by a drive to instill children with a love for the arts and to build their self-esteem, professional actor Miles McMahon helms an array of educational programs at Theatre of the Imagination. He and his staff of local theater lovers build on more than 2,000 successful children's theatrical productions through creative summer camps, acting and performance classes, special workshops, and birthday parties for performers in prekindergarten through ninth grade. Miles writes a completely new work for each class and camp, using the script to immerse students in a cooperative, creative environment while freeing them from the pressures of lead roles, auditions, and autographer's elbow. Staff members can also conduct Movie Star Acting birthday parties, where they shoot a short film with the birthday child as the star.

The teaching staff of the Toon Shop, a former Kansas City fixture founded in 1948, now helms the newly inaugurated Village Music Academy. More than 40 independent instructors harness their combined 400 years of experience to immerse students of all levels in rock, classical, jazz, pop, and country techniques. 48 studio spaces—enough for each member of the Partridge Family to practice individually at once—nurture instruction in strings, woodwinds, and horns, and an auditorium showcases the results with appropriate reverence. The staff also helps prepare students for school band or orchestra. Sunny days might find an open-air audience gathered to watch the school's musicians performing in the plaza of the Prairie Village Shopping Center.

Many studios teach the art of social dancing, but often omit teaching the art of being social. The instructors at TC Dance Club ensure that guests spend as much time kibitzing as they do foxtrotting by hosting classes and open-bar club parties. Between soirees, they teach group and private lessons in dances such as ballroom, Latin, and swing, expediting the learning process by emphasizing the similar patterns across the range of styles. Dancers can dazzle their peers with their newly acquired fancy footwork during Friday night parties, Saturday socials, and member dance shows.

The studio transports students into an elegant dance-hall setting with softly lit chandeliers and a glowing fireplace. The expansive floating dance floor is surrounded by dining tables, sofas, and built-in bar, where patrons can mingle and pontificate on the evolution of the macarena.

Current coach and former player Nick Nurse built his 25-year basketball career on a beautiful shot. He still holds the record at the University of Northern Iowa for highest three-point shooting percentage, and his fundamental approach to instruction led him to nine championships as a head coach in the Euroleague and the 2010-2011 NBA Developmental League championship, the same season he won Coach of the Year. His most recent accolade was an invitation to be an assistant on the Great Britain national team in the 2012 Olympics.

Coach Nick’s formula for success has remained simple: work hard, practice, and live forever. He brings this philosophy to his shooting and point-guard academies. Boys, girls, men, and women of all ages and ability levels can improve their games by working on their basic skill sets. Shooting camps focus on the most underrated aspect of basketball, shooting, by forcing students to repeatedly hoist the “Pill” practice ball through the hoop. The "Pill" uses alternating color panels and bold, straight lines to help players see the backspin and release angle they put into each shot, making it easier to adjust where necessary. Point-guard academies take these skills to the next level by adding work with dribbling, passing, and on-court vision.: