Students to Perform Multicultural Dance, Music at School Choice Week Celebration

Diverse group of schools to gather to celebrate their common purpose

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Jan 17, 2019, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Jan. 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Students from a variety of local private schools will perform a South African gumboot dance and showcase African drumming, gospel choir music, and Islamic poetry set to music at a School Choice Week celebration beginning at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 24 at the New York Academy of Medicine.

Featured speakers will include Assemblyman Marcos A. Crespo (D-Bronx) and CSF Alumna Nicole Serrato, and the event will be emceed by Derrell Bradford, executive vice president of 50CAN and executive director of NYCAN.

The event will close with students representing independent, Catholic, Islamic, and Protestant schools reciting an excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. About 500 people are expected to attend.

This event is planned to coincide with the history-making celebration of National School Choice Week 2019, which will feature more than 40,000 school choice events across all 50 states.

"The children and schools at this event embody the hope that school choice provides. These very different schools are chosen by parents and serve children of diverse backgrounds all across New York City, but they come together around a common purpose of giving children an opportunity to reach their full potential, and that is worth celebrating," said Darla M. Romfo, president of Children's Scholarship Fund (CSF), which is hosting the event.

CSF and its partner programs provide scholarships to low-income children to attend private K-8 schools. During the 2018-19 school year, more than 26,500 students nationwide are attending the school of their family's choice with CSF and CSF partner scholarships, including more than 7,800 children in New York City.

The New York Academy of Medicine is located at 1216 Fifth Ave. (103^rd Street) in Manhattan.

As a nonpartisan, nonpolitical public awareness effort, National School Choice Week shines a positive spotlight on effective education options for students, families, and communities around the country. From January 20 through 26, 2019, more than 40,000 independently-planned events will be held in celebration of the Week. For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com.

SOURCE National School Choice Week