Alicia Keys and Roc Nation made a student's dream come true when they swooped in and came to his rescue. Together, they helped the high school student save her performing arts program at the Professional Performing Arts School in Hell's Kitchen.
According to New York Daily Newsthe “Girl On Fire” singer heard the cries of Tennyson Artigliere, who was campaigning to raise money to stop the school's theater program from closing, and decided to take action.
An alumna of the school herself, Keys donated $60,000 to help fund the program, and with the $53,000 already raised by Artigliere, that put the total north of $100,000 to ensure another year of theater for PPAS students .
The New York Daily News References:
“I wanted to save my school, I wanted to make a difference,” Tennyson said.
“The day I got the email that the performing arts program was going to be cut, I immediately messaged my school's group chat,” she added. “We brainstormed what we could do. We would not leave the program that brought so much happiness to so many students and brought us together.”
The student said she has been in touch with Keys, who in addition to the donation has pledged to help raise money until the city can adequately fund the program.
However, the money will only cover one more year of the program. Earlier this week, arts theater partner Waterwell informed families the program would close as funding for it ran out. That's when Artigliere took action that caught the attention of Alicia Keys, Roc Nation, and even actor Jeremy Allen White (The bear), who all contributed to the online fundraiser.
As for where it goes from here, well, that's anyone's guess, as the future of the program is still up in the air.
More than Daily NEWS:
“The price of services changed during the school year,” Manhattan High School Superintendent Gary Bindleman told reporters at a Thursday briefing. “There was no budget cut.”
“I appreciate the graduates of the school, who reached out, who stepped up,” he said. “There is a plan” to replace the professional theater company with teachers, “and students will continue to receive those services. And we're going to see some Oscar winners in the next 10 years.”
Heather Lanza, Waterwell's director of education, told parents the program was budgeting $531,000 for this school year, about 20 percent of which PPAS confirmed Feb. 29 it could no longer pay. Waterwell denied that they changed their budget mid-year or that they knew from the school that they were looking for a new theater program provider.
Hopefully this issue will be resolved one way or another, as these kids need as many programs as possible to help them grow and develop into their best selves.
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Photo: Getty
