President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities

First Lady Michelle Obama presented the 2012 NAHYP Awards to the winning program recipients at the White House on Monday, November 19, 2012. Each year, 12 out-of-school arts and humanities youth programs are honored for their accomplishments and celebrated for their transformative effects on young people, especially those in underserved communities. This year's NAHYP Awardees come from all corners of the nation, and are varied and diverse in methods of outreach and programmatic aspects from dance, to music, to debate and story-telling.

Dance is a great connector for some of the youth program awardees, especially the African Cultural Connection in Omaha, Nebraska and RISE! (Rhythm In Setting Expectations!) from Norfolk, VA. The New York City Debate League youth participants have developed amazing public speaking skills. Story-telling and folklore imparts wisdom to young people who have been able to take part in the Myth and Hero program in Ohio, while Paso Nuevo/Next Step of Washington, DC tells their story via theatre and theatrical arts. Arts Corps, a Seattle-based organization, provides the Arts Education Program for Youth, a transformative and life-changing experience for the children who participate. Youth Radio helps California young people develop their "voice," and the AS220 Youth Studio lets teens express themselves through recording music, designing video games, choreographing dance moves and more. DreamYard Project in New York, and the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston hold out-of-school programs for the middle and high schoolers in their areas. The Mariachi Master Apprentice Program allows budding musicians to polish their skills, and learn dedication to their craft. History becomes the front and center highlight for the Student Historians Internship Program.

In addition to the 12 amazing domestic programs above, the First Lady honored the International Spotlight Awardee, The 100 Dong Songs Program. The Dong Songs Program hails from China, and showcases art and music of the Dong, an ethnic indigenous minority. They had no written version of their language, and so passed down their culture and history through oral traditions and song.

For more about these amazing awardees, visit www.nahyp.org . The White House ceremony can be seen on the link below.