Shady Side Academy’s Hillman Center for Performing Arts has received a $5,000 literacy grant from the Verizon Foundation to continue the RADICAL (Real Art Develops in Community and Leadership) mutual mentorship program. Bill Carnahan, vice president for external affairs with Verizon Pennsylvania, officially presented the check to Academy President Tom Southard and Hillman Center Executive Director Sarah York Rubin at an all-school assembly on March 5.
The RADICAL program, which launched in fall 2008, partners Shady Side Academy students with students from the Afro-American Music Institute and the Neighborhood Academy in downtown Pittsburgh. During informal sessions, the students discuss and write about issues such as art and diversity in Pittsburgh communities. The program promotes dialogue and understanding among students of different backgrounds, and encourages them to share their unique and diverse experiences via the written word. The Steeltown Entertainment Project and the August Wilson Center are also partners in the RADICAL program.
"The Hillman Center is deeply grateful to the Verizon Foundation for making this program possible,” said Rubin, who founded the RADICAL program at SSA. “Their assistance will allow us to add more participants, as well as artist workshops and orientation activities."
“We sincerely thank Verizon for their generous assistance and commendable dedication to bringing literacy and arts education to the greater Pittsburgh community,” said Southard. “Together, we are furthering the Academy’s mission of celebrating cultural differences through artistic expression.”
“Verizon is proud to improve the quality of life for youth by empowering the community with innovative tools and resources,” said Carnahan. “We’re investing in programs, such as our partnership with Shady Side Academy’s Hillman Center for Performing Arts, to touch people's lives by focusing on literacy and education in the 21st century. Visit www.thinkfinity.org to learn more.”
