On March 28, 2012, Alberto Carvalho, Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) was honored at Arts for Learning’s 4th Annual “Breakfast for Brilliance” at the organization’s new home – The Light Box at Goldman Warehouse in the Wynwood Arts District.
This annual fundraising event celebrated 12 years of providing PK-12 arts education programs that serve more than 10,000 students throughout Miami-Dade public schools and the community. New initiatives were announced that include: a partnership with the Miami Children’s Initiative; the opening of a new Arts for Learning Studio in Coconut Grove made financially possible by the Jonathan D. Lewis Foundation; and plans to expand summer programs in Broward beginning at the Miramar Cultural Center – Arts Park.
“The arts allow us to understand things with our hearts that we can’t comprehend solely with our minds. It is through the arts that we discover who we are and what we can be,” commented Carvalho. “That’s why it’s vital that the arts be included in the K-12 curriculum, and why the partnership between Miami-Dade County Public Schools and A4L is so important; it emphasizes and strengthens the inclusion of the arts in our students’ education. I am gratefully honored to be recognized today for my commitment to the arts.”
Guests included A4L’s 14 Board members, community leaders, philanthropists and sponsors, members of School Board of Miami-Dade, and members of the education and business communities. They were delighted by a theatrical performance by students from Holmes Elementary School – one of the four schools, announced that day, which is no longer at risk for closing.
The “Ray of Light” award was presented to Carvalho by Eduarto Martinez, an A4L alumnus and now a senior studying music at the University of Miami, along with Daniel Lewis, A4L’s newest Board member and founding Dean of Dance at the New World School of the Arts. Carvalho commented: “”Art is life – it is understood; it speaks; it shouts at you. It is a community’s dream building one child at a time. I believe deeply that every child is brilliant. Diamonds don’t shine in shadows or darkness. You don’t bring to them just a spotlight – you bring an immense sun that shines.”
Arts for Learning
www.a4lmiami.org
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