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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Courtney J. Boddie, Vice President of Education and School Engagement at New 42
4:07:26
ยท
3 min
Courtney J. Boddie, Vice President of Education and School Engagement at New 42, testified about the organization's efforts to provide accessible arts education programming to New York City students. She highlighted the New Victory Education Program, which offers affordable performances, in-classroom workshops, and resources to schools across the five boroughs.
- New 42 serves a diverse range of schools, with 76% being NYC public schools and 70% classified as Title I.
- The program impacts up to 19,000 NYC students annually, offering $2 tickets for school performances and free family tickets for NYCHA residents.
- Research shows that exposure to live performing arts through their program strengthens collaborative skills, self-confidence, and optimism in students.
Courtney J. Boddie
4:07:26
you for the opportunity to give testimony on behalf of the New forty two and the New Victory Theater.
4:07:31
My name is Courtney j Boddy, vice president of education and school engagement at New forty two.
4:07:36
Additionally, I am the co chair for the arts committee advocating for arts access to the mayor's panel for educational policy.
4:07:44
I'm a constituent of chair Rita Joseph's district, and I'm also the daughter of an educator and a librarian, so I'm very pleased to be here.
4:07:54
At the New forty two, we take deep pride in fulfilling our mission to make extraordinary performing arts a vital part of everyone's life from the earliest years onward.
4:08:03
Research has proven that quality early arts exposure can have a positive impact on social emotional development of young people.
4:08:10
Through the new victory education program, we engage our school partners in neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs to access to create accessible more authentic pathways to pre k through twelfth grade students to experience transformative power of the arts amongst their peers.
4:08:27
The education program is underwritten by $2,000,000 and is one of the largest and most expansive providers of live performing arts for kids in New York City, bringing affordable dynamic arts education programming to a 30 to a 50 school partners each year.
4:08:42
76% of these school partners represent New York City public schools, 70% are classified as title one serving students living in low wealth neighborhoods, and a handful or quite a few numbers actually of our partner teacher partner schools are district seventy five serving students with disabilities and some d 79 schools as particularly one in East New York that we partner specifically with their librarian.
4:09:09
Our this year our 38 school partners have access to deeply subsidized $2 tickets to school time performances at our historic new Victory Theatre.
4:09:18
Free in classroom workshops trained led by our trained teaching artists to deepen the experience of the live presentations and provide a creative space for innovative play, meaning making.
4:09:28
We also provide summer free summer dance programming and art space resources for educators to implement the arts in their classroom.
4:09:35
And our bring your family program provides over a thousand free performance tickets annually to to families living in NYCHA housing.
4:09:43
Access for All is a a core tenant of our organization, and we hear time and time again that often coming to the new victory is their students first time going to a theater, being on the train for a field trip, and generally feeling radically welcomed.
4:09:57
We positively impact up to 19,000 New York City students each year, and beyond improvements in writing achievement, school engagement, and higher education aspirations, new forty two's own quantitative research proves that exposure to live performing arts strengthens collaborative skills, nurtures self confidence, and optimism.
4:10:18
And I just wanna close with a a quote from one of our new forty two youth core ushers and a Queen's College student, Augustine Romeo.
4:10:27
New forty two's work is important because it reaches a lot of different people.
4:10:30
It gives our young people the opportunity to have a deep love of our arts and adults the chance to connect with their inner child.
4:10:37
That's the kind of organization and city I want to be a part of.
4:10:40
We thank you for striving to activate equitable arts access for all New York students and I and u42 are proud to be partners with the city.
4:10:49
Thank you.