[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 4]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 5646]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING APRIL 9-22, 2017 AS NATIONAL YOUNG AUDIENCES ARTS-FOR-
                             LEARNING WEEK

                                 ______
                                 

                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 5, 2017

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize April 9-22, 
2017 as National Young Audiences Arts-for-Learning Week. Young 
Audiences (YA) Arts for Learning was established in 1952 and is the 
nation's largest arts-in-education learning network. Young Audiences 
currently serves over 5 million children and youth each year in 8,300 
schools and community centers across the country, through its 
diversified network of 30 local affiliates. This year, Young Audiences, 
and its affiliates, will be celebrating ``Young Audiences Week'' with 
numerous community events, educational programs, and initiatives across 
the country, culminating on April 21st and 22nd, at the Digital 
Transformation National Arts-in-Education Conference.
  Young Audiences empowers our nation's next generation of scientists, 
mathematicians, entrepreneurs, artists, writers, parents, and community 
leaders, to be innovative, creative and critical thinkers. YA partners 
with nearly 9,000 local and national organizations, corporations, 
foundations, and government agencies, to create community-wide 
collaborations on behalf of arts-in-education. These partnerships 
enable YA to extend their work and reach more children year by year.
  Young Audience's network strives to connect 4,600 teaching artists 
with over 80,000 educators to provide in-depth arts-in-education 
opportunities that raise academic and artistic achievement, while 
enhancing and developing learning skills that translate across 
curricula.
  In my district, Young Audiences of Rochester, established in 1962, is 
upstate New York's oldest and most comprehensive arts-in-education 
organization, having worked with over 186,000 students in the past 
year.
  As co-chair of the Congressional Arts Caucus, I understand firsthand 
the benefits that comprehensive arts education has on our nation's 
youth. Students engaged in arts learning have higher GPAs, standardized 
test scores, stronger critical thinking skills, better decision making 
skills, and lower drop-out rates. Participating in the arts can have 
incredible benefits on our nation's students.
  I encourage all of my colleagues to join me in recognizing National 
Young Audiences Arts-for-Learning Week.

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