If your child ever wanted to learn how to play steel drums, this is your place. The Grand offers a monthlong program every summer. But the core of education at The Grand is Arts Academy, which teaches music in several genres. Summer Children’s Theater teaches the basics while everyone works toward a final performance. Dance Works provides weekly instruction through First State Ballet Theatre. And Stage of Discovery provides education in the classroom before children visit The Grand. When they arrive to see a special show, they’ve already learned how it connects to such subjects as science and literature, and they’ve learned the basics of theater etiquette. New and cool is Rock Academy, where kids 10-18 form small groups and learn how to play together. “They defer to each other’s artistic preferences, combine them and meld all their interests into one ensemble,” says Pamelyn Manocchio, director of community engagement. Arts education not only increases appreciation, Manocchio says, students also learn about history and culture. “It helps open them to new things they may not reach in other ways,” she says. Wilmington, 652-5577, grandopera.org