This article examines the "My True Voice Project," a mentorship-based program that uses principles of theater education to teach students effective oral communication skills. This project offers a unique model for how arts education can teach children vital thinking skills, strengthen traditional skills, and build community. As such, the "My True Voice Project" has strong ramifications for arts education policy, but it also speaks to the interplay between--and the mutual goals of--arts education policy and general education policy. Communities that are rich in artistic opportunity and involvement are more likely to undergo revitalization, tend to be culturally and economically diverse, and often have a high level of community involvement in forums other than the arts. Furthermore, cultural opportunities can influence a community's economic and demographic growth, because the high-level workers known as "knowledge workers" prefer to live in artistically rich areas.