United Arts Grantee East Millbrook Magnet Middle School Announces Second Grant for Arts in Education Project

 
East Millbrook Magnet Middle School teacher Nancy Slagle has been awarded an ING Unsung Heroes Award through a program that recognizes classroom heroes who take teaching to new heights and make learning fun. Each year, ING presents 100 awards totaling $240,000 to help fund innovative classroom projects nationwide.
 
United Arts has previously awarded Nancy, along with fellow educators Erik Riggs, Kelly Gold, Che-Von Stone, Laura Earnhardt, Andrea Croom, Kathleen Ward, Johanna Kislik, and Marion Bunch an Arts in Education Grant to develop the "Out of Africa Drumming Ensemble."
 
The project aims to continue to foster the mission of East Millbrook Magnet: to establish an international and artistic community by cultivating artistic expression and raising cultural awareness. Slagle believes that exposure and participation in the arts helps in the overall development and thinking of young people. Students in the Ensemble will work hands-on with a resident artist to learn to play various African instruments and hold community performances to highlight what they've learned.
 
The program will help the students understand the importance of teamwork, build leadership skills, gain a sense of personal identity and knowledge of a non-Western musical tradition. In the end, the Ensemble will demonstrate to the community that the students know the value of diversity and respect the fact that not everyone dances to the beat of the same drummer. Slagle is a resident of Raleigh.
 
ING Unsung Heroes is a ten-year-old program for educators, with nearly $2.3 million dollars awarded in grants. More than 1100 educators from across the country submitted applications this year for financial grants - 100 were chosen to receive $2,000 each to fund their innovative class projects. They are now in the running for additional grants of $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000 - the top three awards will be announced in the coming weeks.