News Archive

LeAp STUDENTS KEEP THE VOICE OF AUGUST WILSON ALIVE IN NYC MONOLOGUE COMPETITION

On March 6 2013, LeAp students participated in the citywide August Wilson Monologue Competition, a continuation of a nationwide initiative, which introduces new generations of high school students to the works of renowned playwright August Wilson, while exploring African-American history. The competition started with six in-school contests, and the students who moved on to the March 6th event represented the following schools:

Fordham High School for the Arts
Hillcrest High School
Repertory Company High School for the Arts
Edward R. Murrow High School
Brooklyn Theatre Arts High School
Marta Valle High School

The three finalists, Zhane Ligon, Justin Withers, and Reginald Wilson Jr., attend schools in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and will advance to the national competition with students from six other cities, which will take place on:

May 6, 2013 at 7:00 p.m.
August Wilson Monologue Competition
August Wilson Theater
245 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019

Students will perform two- to three-minute monologues of their choosing from the Century Cycle series of plays by the internationally renowned African-American playwright August Wilson. Judges will rank them based on energy and physical presentation, lines and memorization, characterization and emotional connectedness, vocal presentation and projection, and understanding of the text.

Student artist reception for LeAp's annual exhibit hosted by Citigroup

Students from PS 315 in the Bronx with their artwork Learning through an Expanded Arts Program (LeAp) honored the young artists whose works are currently on display in LeAp’s 11^th Annual Citigroup Student Art Exhibition on Wednesday, Dec. 5 at 10 a.m. The exhibition featured works by New York City public school students in LeAp’s arts integration programs, which utilize the arts to teach the academic curriculum. Citigroup hosts the exhibit each year as an expression of their commitment to furthering arts education. As part of the celebration, LeAp and Citigroup recognized the students’ artistic achievements with a “milk and cookies” reception, at which the students had the chance to discuss their art with their peers and the public.

LeAp educators work with students in schools across the city, using the arts to improve their math, science, social studies and literacy skills. From storybook quilts and Mondrian-inspired paintings to Southwest murals and a lively papier-mâché depiction of plants, animals and varied habitats studied in LeAp’s SummerQuest program at P.S. 5 in the Bronx, the exhibition demonstrates a wide range of the creative output of LeAp students.

“We are immensely proud of the achievements of our students, both artistic and academic,” said LeAp Executive Director Ila Lane Gross. “This exhibition is a testament to their talent and creativity and the efforts of LeAp’s teaching artists and the classroom teachers they worked with, as well as to the importance of ensuring that all children have access to arts education.”

The artworks will be on display weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through January 2013.

LeAp’s afterschool program at P.S. 84 showcased at Lights on Afterschool

Second grade students at LeAp's afterschool program at P.S. 84. Photo by Daphne Youree. LeAp’s afterschool program at P.S. 84 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn was recently showcased at “Lights on Afterschool,” an annual celebration of afterschool programs. Each October, thousands of communities across the country celebrate Lights on Afterschool, which recognizes the significant role that afterschool programs play in keeping kids safe, inspiring them to learn, and helping working families.

The local YMCA hosted the event in Greenpoint, which was held at McCarren Park Play Center and P.S. 84. Around 200 parents attended to see the afterschool programs in the neighborhood in action, as well as enjoy exciting educational activities with their children.

Photo by Daphne Youree.

LeAp OnStage program featured on Samuel French’s blog!

Shanice Bailey is one of the playwrights who participated in LeAp OnStage and saw her play published by Samuel French. Read the feature on their website!

LeAp is honored to partner with world-renowned play publisher Samuel French in the LeAp OnStage program. Samuel French provides a unique opportunity for our young playwrights by publishing their work in a professionally bound anthology each year.

Now in its seventh year, LeAp OnStage has worked with 3,000 junior and senior high school, providing them with a unique, comprehensive theater program. Students are involved in playwriting, play production, visits with guest artists, and given a behind the scenes look into the world of Broadway.

LeAp celebrates 35 years serving students in New York

Learning through an Expanded Arts Program (LeAp) is proud to celebrate its 35th year of bringing innovative, multi-sensory, arts-based programs to New York City public school students. Since 1977, LeAp has reached over two million K-12 students with its hands-on, arts-based programs that utilize music, dance, theater and visual art to directly teach the core curriculum. All of LeAp’s programs are customized to the specific needs of each classroom and tap into the varied learning styles of students, thus reaching all student populations—including special needs, gifted and English language learners.

LeAp was started 35 years ago in the back room of an Upper West Side apartment by two friends, Ila Lane Gross and Alice Krieger. LeAp began in four Manhattan schools and over the years has worked with over 750 schools in all five boroughs and throughout the greater metropolitan area.

The following are some highlights in LeAp’s history:

1977: LeAp is founded by Ila Gross and Alice Krieger and begins at four schools in Manhattan.

1978: LeAp receives its first grant from the New York Foundation for the Arts to create a unique program: public and private schools working together for the first time in New York City. It was an after-school program at the International Center for Photography combining poetry and the visual image.

1979: Second major grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund to create a manual on how to replicate LeAp. The Fund cites LeAp as a “model for the nation.”

1982: Grants from National Endowment for the Humanities and the New York State Council on the Arts to produce curriculum materials working with the Metropolitan Museum and the American Museum of Natural History.

1990s: Leap begins conducting drug and violence prevention and shelter programs throughout NYC and is selected by the chancellor as one of three agencies to conduct summer school programs throughout NYC.

2001-2004:

LeAp is selected by FEMA and The New York Times Company Foundation to conduct programs that to address problems and issues resulting from the tragedy of 9/11.
LeAp conducts its first quantitative study in conjunction with New York University on early childhood literacy to assess whether LeAp’s hands-on, arts-based approach works. The success of this program will give LeAp national importance and help us receive federal and state funding.
LeAp, in conjunction with the NYC Department of Education and NYU, receives a three-year, $821,000 US Department of Education grant to conduct and quantitatively evaluate its Active Learning Leads to Literacy (ALLL) program with 2,000 NYC kindergarten through 2nd-grade students. The program uses music, art, dance, drama, cooking, and games to teach the basic 23 early-childhood literacy skills.

2006: LeAp creates two new program partnerships:

Fidelity FutureStage theater program
Paul Taylor Dance Company’s Taylor 2
Friends of Hudson River Park and Hudson River Park Trust for LeAp’s Water Ecology program.

2007-2008: LeAp designs an annual plan and initiates three new programs:

LeAp’s Public Art Program—This social action program works with middle school students to empower them to speak out on critical social issues in their communities through the creation of large-scale artworks that comprise the largest student exhibition in NYC parks history and the first to span five boroughs. Exhibition developed with cooperation and support of NYC Parks and Recreation.
Building Character—Building the History of Our Nation, one of five grants in the US focusing on a new model of the American history curriculum for 8th grade.
August Wilson Monologue Competition for high school students culminating in a New York City competition. Student finalists participate in a national competition.

2011: LeAp OnStage theater program (formerly Fidelity FutureStage) is an iteration of LeAp’s five-year-old landmark theater immersion program for New York City junior and senior high school students, and combines playwriting, play production and theater appreciation.

2012: The City of New York recognizes LeAp’s contributions to education and the arts in New York by proclaiming Feb. 29th as LeAp Day, stating: “Since 1977, LeAp has been one of the foremost organizations in New York City dedicated to arts education. Their programs in music, dance, theater, and the visual arts have reached more than two million young New Yorkers over the years, and their continued efforts have helped many of our city’s students excel both academically and socially.”