Ethel Percy Andrus Legacy Awards
In honor of Dr. Andrus' career and service to Lincoln High School, AARP's 50th Anniversary Celebration was launched with the presentation of an Ethel Percy Andrus Legacy Award to the school. The $100,000 gift from AARP helped the school restore its music, dance and theatrical programs, and refurbish their theater into the Ethel Percy Andrus Performing Arts Center.
A competitive process was used to select the Legacy Award-winning school in six other cities across the country. The winners of the $100,000 awards are:
- Atlanta's Alonso A. Crim Open Campus High School's Family-Ties-Day-Care program, where children receive quality care as their student parents participate in programs to promote the development of leadership and life skills;
- Chicago's Theodore Roosevelt High School's Musical Theater Program, which brings together people of widely varying circumstances, ages, experiences and cultures as students collaborate to produce musicals for the community;
- Washington, D.C.'s McKinley Technology High School's Project SWEEP (Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Program), which connects students with agencies to promote energy conservation and environmental protection through outreach efforts to educate citizens and businesses about recycling;
- Houston's Furr High School's Intergenerational Interdependence - I to the Power of Two program, which prepares students for college and is extending its efforts to create a student volunteer corps that will address the needs of senior citizens in their community;
- Miami's Young Men's Academy for Academic and Civic Engagement at MacArthur South's STARS (Seniors Teaming with At Risk Students) program, which engages disconnected students by teaching artistic skills and aiding the students in conducting learning workshops for elders in the community; and
- Philadelphia's Central High School's Power of Student Voices program, which helps connect citizens to the political process and has engaged policymakers across all levels of government.
Entries were judged by a blue ribbon panel of nationally known educators and civic leaders, including:
- Governor Gaston Caperton, President and CEO, the College Board and former governor of West Virginia;
- Dr. James (Jim) Kielsmeier, President and CEO, National Youth Leadership Council;
- Dr. Joyce Payne, AARP Board Member and former Vice President of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges;
- Maria Tukeva, National award winning principal, Bell Multicultural Senior High School, Washington, DC;
- Neal Wolin, President and Chief Operating Officer, Property and Casualty Company, The Hartford.
