An annual advocacy and awareness initiative first championed by Conductor Leonard Bernstein in 1971, YA Week has grown into a two-week celebration of arts-in-education observed each spring by the YA Network, leaders in the field, and individual supporters. Young Audiences Arts for Learning's affiliates mark YA Week with a variety of special events, public programs, open classrooms, and other outreach, with the goal of spotlighting for congressional stakeholders and the community the powerful impact of the arts on the education and development of our next generation of learners.