WBKO Posted: 10:41 AM Dec 6, 2011
Reporter: Casey Wheeless
Email Address: casey.wheeless@wbko.com
“The arts can in fact change the playing field for children,” says Tom Tomlinson, “change the way kids learn and really help to increase kids potential as they go through school.”
The Laura Goad Turner Charitable Foundation donated one million dollars to SKyPAC, to help educate children in Allen County about the arts.
“We know it’s going to touch many lives from Scottsville and Allen County,” says Katherine Sikora, with the foundation.
The one million dollars will be split up.
The first 250 thousand will be given to the construction of the SKyPAC building.
Another 250 thousand will be for training teachers in Allen County and bringing students from the schools to SKyPAC for performances, along with hiring artists such as dance companies to work with students.
The last half a million will be a challenge grant.
The foundation will award two dollars for ever dollar SKyPAC raising to support the program.
“We open March 10th and we’re selling tickets and all of that is very exciting, but at the end of the day if we don’t also figure out ways to change the lives of kids … we aren’t doing our job,” says Tomlinson.
The Laura Goad Turner Foundation’s mission is to help those in the Scottsville, Allen county area.
The group feels confident their money is going to help many children at SKyPAC.
“We don’t cross the county line so, our foundation has a lot of faith in SKyPAC, we feel it’s a diamond in the ruff right now.”
Both SKyPAC and the foundation hope this will be a stepping stone for all counties in the area to partner up for children and the arts.
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