PHOENIX CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC’s COLLEGE PREP PROGRAM RECIEVES TOP FEDERAL AWARD FOR AFTER SCHOOL ARTS PROGRAMS!!!!
Cited as one of the best creative youth development programs in the country
Phoenix, Arizona
As Phoenix’s arts community continues to grow and thrive, one of its own arts organizations has received national recognition of its excellent programming for young people. The Phoenix Conservatory of Music was recognized with a 2017 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the nation’s highest honor for after school arts and humanities programs. PCM was one of twelve organizations across the country to receive the honor, which recognizes effectiveness in promoting learning and life skills in young people by engaging them through creative youth development programs.
In addition to the national recognition bestowed by receipt of the prestigious award, PCM will also receive $10,000 to support its programming and engage more young people from the community.
“Phoenix is home to an incredible arts community, and organizations like the Phoenix Conservatory of Music are key to the city’s cultural vibrancy,” Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton said. “This award is testament to the great work PCM is doing to expose children in our community to the arts and music education.”
The award recognizes the country’s best creative youth development programs for using engagement in the arts and the humanities to generate a wide range of positive outcomes, such as increases in academic achievement, graduation rates, and college enrollment. The awardees—chosen from a pool of 350 nominations and 50 finalists—were also recognized for improving literacy and language abilities, communication and performance skills, and cultural awareness.
Programs that receive the award are recognized as the country’s best in providing creative youth development programs and using engagement in the arts and humanities to generate a wide range of positive outcomes and exemplify how arts and humanities programs outside of the regular school day enrich the lives of young people throughout the country by teaching new skills, nurturing creativity, and building self-confidence. These creative youth development programs offer high-quality and intensive instruction on weekends, afternoons, and summer vacations, providing a safe and productive space for young people in the hours when they are often the most vulnerable. Their carefully focused projects supplement in-school curricula with exposure to a wide variety of artistic and scholastic pursuits. Arts and Humanities education has always been a priority the federal arts and culture agencies.
First presented in 1998, the 2017 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards were presented through a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), in cooperation with the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA).
“This award highlights what we already know, that Phoenix has an amazing arts and culture community that deserves a national stage, with programs that give students the skills to achieve their dreams,” said Phoenix Vice Mayor Laura Pastor, chair of the city’s Parks, Arts, Education and Equality Subcommittee. “The Phoenix Conservatory of Music provides essential support and encouragement of students’ creativity and self-expression, something most young people can’t get during the regular school day.”
The award is the latest recognition to highlight the Conservatory’s work with students. Earlier this year, Phoenix Conservatory of Music was a recipient of the 2017 Mayor’s Arts Awards for Innovative Organization of the Year, and in 2015 received the Arizona Governor’s Arts Award for Arts Education Organization.
“This kind of excellent programming is why it is essential that the City of Phoenix supports arts organizations like the Phoenix Conservatory of Music. Our investment through operating grants and technical support help to make these successes possible,” said Councilwoman Thelda Williams, District 1. “I hope that our residents will take the time to learn about the Conservatory and all it offers our community. It’s a true gem that everyone should know about.”
In addition to Marcus Wolf, 16, of Phoenix, Arizona receiving the award along with Phoenix Conservatory of Music Executive Director, Regina Nixon; Phoenix Conservatory of Music provided the student performance for the awards ceremony. PCM Students Lourde Childs, 13, of Peoria, Arizona and Michael Rodriguez, 15, of Phoenix, Arizona traveled to our Nation’s Capital on November 09, 2017 and performed for the heads of our Federal Arts and Humanities Agencies. They performed Man In The Mirror recorded by Michael Jackson, written by Glen Ballard and Siedah Garrett; produced by Quincy Jones, and received a standing ovation. https://youtu.be/QXC2YNMWLVQ?t=30m35s
Phoenix Conservatory of Music provides a continuum of high quality music education and experiences to hundreds of students annually, with programs ranging from introductory level in-house education programs and after school programs to more advanced private lessons and the most prestigious College Prep Program for contemporary music education in the state: The Berklee College of Music’s City Music Network and P.U.L.S.E. programs. Since the inception of PCM’s College Prep Program in 2010, the program is providing a pathway for students to achieve their dreams- one note at a time. With 3-10 hours per week of low to no cost engagement, the organization provides students 4-12 grades with private music lessons, music theory classes, enrichment classes and Popular Music Ensembles. They have a 95% graduation rate (compared to an 86% in the local community and a 77% in the state), 71% go on to college or university, 43% of those students are studying music or music related fields, and they have earned more than $1 Million Dollars in Scholarship Offers.
