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Intercultural Youth Program honored by First Lady

Contributed by: Colorado Historical Society on 1/25/2006

WASHINGTON, D.C.-- Young people from communities across the U.S. and Mexico who engage in after-school arts and humanities programs that promote educational achievement and productive lives will be honored by Mrs. Laura Bush at a ceremony for the 2005 Coming Up Taller Awards in Washington, D.C. The ceremony will take place at 2:30 p.m. in the East Room of the White House on Jan. 25.

From photography and media arts in New York City, to playwriting and book groups in the heartland, to live theater and musical performance on the west coast and Hawaii, the honored programs represent a diverse array of experiences that enable young people to nurture their interests under the disciplined and caring tutelage of educators and community leaders. All programs will receive $10,000 in honor of their accomplishments in enriching the lives of young people and their communities.

“When young people have the opportunity to explore the arts and humanities and discover their creative side, a new world is opened to these students,” said Bush.

Coming Up Taller is an initiative of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH). The President’s Committee partners with the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to administer the program, which was founded in 1998.

The Coming Up Taller Awards recognize and support outstanding community arts and humanities programs that celebrate the creativity of America’s young people, and provide them with new learning opportunities and opportunities to contribute to their communities. The awards also highlight the contributions that historians, scholars, librarians and visual and performing artists make to families and communities by mentoring children.
More than 250 nominations were received by the program in 2005.

The Colorado Historical Society’s Old Stories, New Voices Intercultural Youth Program has garnered national recognition as one of the 17 outstanding youth arts and humanities programs to receive the 2005 Coming Up Taller Awards. Old Stories, New Voices provides economically and socially disadvantaged youth with the opportunity to spend six days at a historic fort and engage in activities similar to those of a hundred years ago.

In recognition of its achievements, Old Stories, New Voices will receive $10,000 at the ceremony.

“The arts and humanities develop bright young people who will lead our nation in the future,” said Adair Margo, Chairman, President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. “Coming Up Taller recognizes the best of after-school and summer programs that engage youth in music, theatre, dance, photography, history and all kinds of enriching activities that help them realize their full potential as human beings.”

Representatives of each program will be in Washington to accept the awards. The following programs will be honored:

-The ArtsLiteracy Project, Brown Summer High School, Brown University, Providence, R.I.

-Cathedral Choir School of Delaware, Cathedral Community Services,
Wilmington, Del.

-Latino Outreach Program, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pa.

-TRUCE, Harlem Children’s Zone, Inc., New York, N.Y.

-ICP at the Point, International Center of Photography, New York, N.Y.
-Youth-Art-in-Action, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Mass.

-Teen Media Program, The Community Art Center, Inc., Cambridge, Mass.

-Cultural Alternatives Division, Music and Arts Center for Humanity (MACH), Bridgeport, Conn.

-Pillsbury House Theatre’s Chicago Avenue Project, Pillsbury United Communities, Minneapolis, Minn.

-Book Group Programs at Family Focus, Literature for All of Us, Evanston, Ill.

-JAMS, Van Go Mobile Arts, Inc., Lawrence, Kan.

-Moving in the Spirit, independence, Inc., Atlanta, Ga.

-Old Stories, New Voices, Colorado Historical Society, Denver, Colo.

-The School Project, Inside Out Community Arts, Inc., Venice, Calif.

-Castle Performing Arts Learning Center, Department of Education: J.B. Castle High School, Kaneohe, Hawaii

-The Art and Children Project in Veracruz, Mexico

-The Margarita Septien Ludic Center in Colima, Mexico

“We are thrilled that the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities is honoring this important initiative with the Coming Up Taller Award,” said Georgianna Contiguglia, Colorado Historical Society President. “As the designated steward of Colorado history, our educational mission is to bring history to life with programs like Old Stories, New Voices, which provides an authentic, hands-on experience for children to learn about the state’s past.”

“By investigating and reenacting the lives of frontier people-Hispanic artisans, Buffalo Soldiers, farmers or Plains Indians-camp participants learn valuable lessons, not only about how these different groups lived and interacted, but also about themselves,” said Bobbe Hultin, Program Administrator for Old Stories, New Voices at the Colorado Historical Society. “For many campers, it is the first time they have been taken out of an urban setting, and after only one week participants bring back a strong connection to the environment and an understanding that they have the tools to create their own ‘history.’”

Created in 1997 with the National Park Service, Old Stories, New Voices Intercultural Youth Program guides participants as they pitch camp for a week at historic Fort Garland in south-central Colorado, embarking on a journey not only through the state’s natural landscape, but also through its history and diverse cultures. Staff further reinforce the messages of appreciation of history and historical preservation through museum visits, living history presentations and nature hikes. This year the program offered more than 50 of Colorado’s underserved rural and urban youth, ages 9-12, the opportunity to make history come to life.

Old Stories, New Voices emphasizes values such as an appreciation for diversity as participants role-play the various peoples who inhabited Colorado, learning first-hand how these people lived and their fate as their cultures intersected. Participants gain an understanding of time periods as they sequence archaeological items, interpret artifacts, sketch and keep journals. The week culminates when students present a play highlighting what they learned.

The program extends well beyond the adobe fort. After camp is over, Old Stories, New Voices staff continue to mentor participants throughout the year. According to a program evaluation conducted by researchers at Texas A&M University, participants interested in history who completed Old Stories, New Voices set higher goals academically and achieved better grades in history than before attending camp. More than 90 percent of parents said that improving academic performance was a goal for their child, and 90 percent of those parents said that the goal was achieved after attending Old Stories, New Voices.

“I have noticed that after attending the program Kanika’s grades have improved. She is much more focused on doing well in school,” said her father Ron Wilson.

Old Stories, New Voices is funded in part by a grant from the Colorado State Historical Fund, a program of the Colorado Historical Society. The State Historical Fund receives a portion of state gaming tax revenues to provide grants to preserve and interpret Colorado’s architectural and archaeological treasures for public benefit.

Due to the program’s overwhelming success, a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities will enable the camp to expand into three additional states: New Mexico, Texas, and Pennsylvania. Children from Taos, N.M. attended camp at Fort Garland in July 2005. The Austin, Texas program will begin on June 25, 2006 at Fort McKavett State Historic Park, and the Pittsburgh, Pa. program will start on July 9, 2006 at Meadowcroft Museum of Rural Life.

“Through the Coming Up Taller program, the President’s Committee focuses national attention on exemplary programs that enhance the lives and learning of young people who are most at risk,” said Henry Moran, Executive Director, President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. “We believe our nation’s future - our leaders, artists, writers, musicians, educators and entrepreneurs - depends on the investment these excellent programs make in the lives and talents of our youth.”

The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) bridges the interests of federal agencies and the private sector, supports special projects that increase participation, and helps incorporate the humanities and the arts into White House objectives. Mrs. Laura Bush is the Honorary Chair of the PCAH.

The National Endowment for the Arts is a public agency dedicated to supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education.

Because democracy demands wisdom, the National Endowment for the Humanities serves and strengthens our Republic by promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is an independent federal grant making agency dedicated to creating and sustaining a nation of learners.


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