Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy Honored By Michelle Obama

SUMMARY

Under Kwayera’s leadership, Brooklyn-based Ifetayo Arts Cultural Academy was honored by the White House as a recipient of the 2013 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the highest honor offered in the United States for youth arts and humanities programming.

Talented students of the Ifetayo Youth Ensemble had the opportunity to perform for First Lady Obama in Washington, DC. who indicated during the program that the award is a way to honor outstanding organizations that are using the arts to lift up our young people. The program was recognized for its effectiveness in developing learning and life skills in young people by engaging them in the arts or humanities.

RESULTS

First Lady Michelle Obama presented the award on behalf of the President’s Committee on the Arts on the Arts and the Humanities, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Ifetayo students were extremely excited to perform for First Lady Obama and esteemed partnership members with national acclaim.

First Lady Michelle Obama invited Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy,represented by the Founder, Kwayera, a student and the Ifetayo Youth Ensemble, one of the 12 winners of the 2013 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award to the White House to recognize their effectiveness in developing learning and life skills in young people by engaging them in the arts or humanities.

Ifetayo Cultural Arts Academy, a community-based organization from Brooklyn were  chosen from a pool of more than 350 nominations and 50 finalists to receive the highest honor awarded to such programs in the United States.

Mrs. Obama recognized Ifetayo in using engagement in the arts and the humanities to generate a wide range of outcomes, including increases in academic achievement, graduation rates, and college enrollment, as well as improvements in literacy and language abilities, communication and performance skills, and cultural awareness.