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June 29,
2000 KC Futures 150 (Sentenced to the Arts)
Leads Troubled Youth to |
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Michael Toombs - Art Director, Storytellers,
Inc. (Kansas City, MO) - This Friday, June 30, 2000 at 2:30 PM, at the Prince of Egypt Import Company, 40th and Broadway - KCMO, Michael Toombs and David Sullivan will unveil a creative project by three students who have worked this past year in the Sentenced to the Arts Project (now called "KC Futures 150"). The owner of the Prince of Egypt Import Company has commissioned the work from the three youthful artists through Storytellers, Inc. Based on statistics demonstrating that involvement in the arts can turn the life of a troubled youth around, the KC Futures 150 Project has introduced arts skills, arts education, and expressive arts therapy to nearly 500 adjudicated youth in Jackson County over the past year. A collaborative project among Jackson County Prosecutor's Office - COMBAT, The City of Kansas City, MO, Jackson County Family Court, and Pan-Educational Institute has created this project to reduce crime and mitigate further penetration by youth in the Juvenile Justice system, while demonstrating better grades, increased school attendance, and decreased behavior problems among the adjudicated youth of Jackson County. "These students need income opportunities such as this, which allow them to use their energies in creative activities," says Toombs. "Given positive options to choose over negative activities, the kids choose the positive." A vital component for this project is the staff and administration of the Family Court facilities. Toombs and Sullivan credit much of the success of this project to the dedication and hard work of those Family Court employees who have worked this program from the inside. Pan-Educational Institute is an educational technology non-profit organization whose mission is to identify and facilitate access to select educational and training opportunities for schools, not-for-profit organizations, and governmental agencies that serve those who are at risk or have special needs.
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