Anne Teschner (Trinity MA ’06, American Studies), executive director of the Care Center in Holyoke, Mass., stands alongside Tashia Davis, a student at the Care Center, and First Lady Michelle Obama.  The Care Center received this year’s National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, given annually as “the Nation’s highest honor for outstanding arts and humanities programs that reach underserved communities.”  The Center, one of 12 winners out of 500 nominees, won a $10,000 prize plus national recognition for its extensive work supporting teenage mothers.  “We have seen over the years that, when young people are provided with an academically rich and engaging environment that includes the arts and humanities and provided with the support they need to focus and study, they will flourish,” Teschner said.  “This award puts us more centrally in the nationally discussion about the power of quality education and the effective approach to poverty.”  Teschner said her time at Trinity was useful to her work today.  “I had a great experience as a graduate student at Trinity,” she added.  “My work there has definitively informed my work at The Care Center.”

To watch the White House award ceremony, see below, or visit: http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/2011/11/02/first-lady-honors-arts-and-humanities-programs-youth.

For more on the Care Center, visit: www.carecenterholyoke.org.