The Leonore Annenberg Scholarship and School Funds project announced on Friday that it has awarded $2,600,000 in grants to a total of 22 elementary schools, artists, and high school students.
Two Hamilton County students and two Hamilton County schools were named recipients of the grants.
The funds will support an artist’s craft, a school’s needs for its students, and will pay the total cost of college for five deserving high school students.
Structured in three separate program funds – The Leonore Annenberg Fellowship Fund in the Performing and Visual Arts; the Leonore Annenberg College Scholarship Fund; and the Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children – the grants target those poised to become the cultural and community leaders of the next generation and also support elementary school students in need of essential educational resources such as library books, computers and software, arts programming, and playground equipment.
The grants are named in honor of the late Leonore Annenberg, chief of Protocol in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and wife of the late Ambassador Walter H. Annenberg. Mrs. Annenberg established the grants to support her lifelong commitment to public service, education, and the arts.
Past recipients have called the grants life-changing.
“I am proud to say that my life is in a decisively different place than it was when this Grant began,” said Jeremy Strong, actor and 2008 Fellow recipient. “I would not have been able to reach the milestones of these two years without the freedom that you afforded me.”
Clifford W. Buck, principal of Shearn Elementary School in Houston, Texas and 2010 grant recipient echoes Mr. Strong’s sentiments. He said, “The funds we will be receiving...for our small school with 97% poverty...will really help my teachers with their instruction and my students with their learning as they become even more technologically literate in the 21st century."
Recipients of this year’s Leonore Annenberg Fellowships in the Performing and Visual Arts whose combined two-year grants totaled $350,000 include:
Baritone Christopher Bolduc, who attended the master of music program at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and excelled in numerous productions that earned him top prizes including the Sullivan Foundation Awards for Voice. Christopher’s Nominating Organization: Indiana University Jacobs School of Music
Artist Steve Daly, a former investigative reporter and media producer in conflict and disaster zones who is using his grant to pursue a new career in photography through international travel, exhibition opportunities and gallery representation. Steve’s Nominating Organization: School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Nadine Sierra, a soprano and a past grand finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions whose performances have won acclaim from critics abroad and domestic. Nadine’s Nominating Organization: Mannes College, The New School of Music
Demetia Hopkins, a dancer with the celebrated New York dance company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Demetia’s Nominating Organization: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Actor Hannah Cabell, who appeared recently opposite Mandy Patinkin in the Off-Broadway play Compulsion at The Public Theater in New York City. Hannah’s Nominating Organization: The Public Theater, New York City.
Recipients of the four-year college scholarship, valued at approximately $250,000 per scholar are:
Kassandra Hopkins, a junior at Vinalhaven School, Vinalhaven, Me.
Emtithal Mahmoud, a junior at J.R. Masterman Senior High School, Philadelphia
Matthew Heinichen, a junior at Signal Mountain High School, Signal Mountain, Tn.
Walee Ahmed, a junior at Hillcrest High School, Queens, N.Y.
Alexandra Oviatt, a junior at Red Bank High School, Chattanooga, Tn.
The elementary schools receiving $1 million in total grants are:
A. J. Bush Elementary School, Houston, Tx.
Horn Elementary School, Houston Tx.
Weaver A. Odom Elementary, Houston, Tx.
PS 1: The Courtlandt School, Bronx, N.Y.
PS 33: The Timothy Dwight School, Bronx, N.Y.
Dermott Elementary School, Dermott, Ar.
St. Helena Central Elementary, Greenburg, La.
Hardy Elementary School, Chattanooga, Tn.
Rivermont Elementary School, Chattanooga, Tn.
Carrie P. Meek/Westview Elementary School, Miami, Fl.
Golden Glades Elementary School, Opa-Locka, Fl.
Van E. Blanton Elementary School, Miami, Fl.