For the eighth and final time, First Lady Michelle Obama will invite the 12 winners of the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award to the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 2 p.m., EST to recognize their programs’ effectiveness in developing young people’s learning and life skills by engaging them in the arts or humanities.
The 12 community-based organizations from across the country were chosen from a pool of 251 nominations and 50 finalists to receive the highest honor awarded to such programs in the United States.
Boston-based True Colors: Out Youth Theater, the nation’s longest running queer youth theater group, will be one of the honorees, marking the first time an LGBTQ organization has received this highest award in youth creative development.
In addition, one program representing the field of Creative Youth Development in Cuba will accept the International Spotlight Award.
The awardees will be recognized by Mrs. Obama for using engagement in the arts and the humanities to generate a wide range of positive outcomes, including increases in academic achievement; growth in graduation and college enrollment rates; and improvements in literacy and language abilities, communication and performance skills, and cultural awareness.
The ceremony will include a live performance by students from Sphinx Overture (Detroit, Mich.), which will feature the first movement of the String Quartet no. 6 in F-minor, op. 80, Allegro vivace assai, by Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847).
In addition, 15-year-old Jayden Lim will address the audience on behalf of Tribal Youth Ambassadors (Santa Rosa, Calif.), another awardee. In her remarks, she will focus on how this program strengthened her Native identity, gave her the tools to represent her culture and community, and connected her to other tribal youth who shared common experiences.
First Lady Michelle Obama will present the awards during a ceremony at the White House, which will be streamed live at www.whitehouse.gov/live.+
This post was updated 11/14/16.
