Mount Vernon Schools Get Funds To Add Arts To STEM Subjects

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Thanks to $1.35 million from a federal grant and other sources of funding, educators from the Mount Vernon City School District and ArtsWestchester will join forces to integrate arts education into subjects such as science, technology, engineering and math, commonly known as STEM.

From left, State Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, United Way Westchester/Putnam CEO Alan Sweeney, ArtsWestchester CEO Janet Langsam, Us. Rep. Eliot Engel, State Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson and Grimes Elementary School Principal Frances Ann Lightsy.

by Stephanie Mojica

01/10/2015 4:00 a.m.

The U.S. Department of Education funded eight Arts in Education Development and Dissemination programs nationwide, and awarded $1.2 million to Mount Vernon’s public schools.

ArtsWestchester secured another $135,000 of funding from the Frog Rock Foundation, United Way, Staples, HSBC, Sherry and Robert Wiener, The Thomas and Agnes Carvel Foundation, and individuals committed to the arts and education, according to a press release.

“We are truly privileged and delighted to be able provide our students with lessons learned through arts education that will last a lifetime,” Mount Vernon Schools Superintendent Kenneth R. Hamilton said in a press release.

“We are thrilled to have a partner in arts education with the experience and know-how of ArtsWestchester…This is a beginning…and I can assure you that the district will have more good news about arts programming in early 2015,” he said.

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