Young Audiences Thanks Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation For $600,000 Grant!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   

Date: September 10th, 2022

A special thanks to the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation for its 3-year, $600,000 grant to support:

The Creativity Consultant Project

The end result: ALL students see themselves in their learning! This professional learning model gives classroom teachers, arts specialists, and school administrators new techniques and skills to connect learning to children’s life experiences and learning. An application for interested school partners will be available later this month.

Theater to Learn

Curtain call! Students experience 4 years of theater-centered learning across the curriculum embedded in Culturally Responsive lessons. Classroom teachers learn to incorporate theatre, script writing, and dramatic play into classroom teaching. Participating schools will include Beatrice Gilmore Elementary in Woodland Park, Mott Elementary School in Trenton, Salome Urena Elementary and Sussex Avenue Elementary, both in Newark.

APLI – The Arts Professional Learning Institute

NJ teaching artists and educators participate in this arts-based professional learning opportunity and learn techniques to reach the whole student, inclusive of race, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, and sexual orientation. A co-sponsored project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts with additional funding from the Grunin Foundation.

“We are thrilled to receive this generous, multi-year funding. As we work to center equity in our arts education programming, the Dodge Foundation is a creative and visionary partner. This support will make a difference for the students, teachers and artists we work with,” shared Michele Russo, YA President & CEO.

And here’s WHY…

“I bring the culture of students into the curriculum through the arts — storytelling, dance, and music,” says Liliana Attar as she prepares to return to the classroom via Young Audiences of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Based at 200 Forrestal Road, Plainsboro, Young Audiences is a nonprofit education program founded in 1973. The organization uses the arts as a means to create educational experiences that engage students beyond traditional training.

To read the rest of Lilliana Attar’s feature, click here.