Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Awards over $200,000 to Nine DC-Area Nonprofits

LANSDOWNE, Va., March 24, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation congratulates the nine nonprofit recipients of its 2014 Good Neighbor Grants. Each has proven its dedication to helping students from low- to moderate-income families in the metropolitan Washington, DC area in the fields of K-12 education, college access, and visual and performing arts education. 

Established in 2012, the Good Neighbor Grants program aims to support local nonprofits whose values and mission align with the Foundation's commitment to ensuring low-income students thrive in school and beyond.

"Being able to support organizations that are producing great results," says Vice President of Programs Emily Froimson, "reminds us that we have many partners creating educational opportunities for young people in our own community."

This year's grants range from $10,000 to $35,000 and will provide students with access to writing and publishing opportunities, college preparation advice, top-notch academic guidance, and enrichment activities.

The nine recipients are as follows:

826DC (Washington, DC)--$20,000 will support the Young Author's Book Project to provide a year-long writing and publishing opportunity to approximately 50 DC public school students, which culminates in a published anthology of student work.

Bowen McCauley Dance (Arlington, VA)--$15,000 will provide dance training to approximately 30 students in the 2014-15 academic year residency program at Arlington's Kenmore Middle School and professional development workshops to teachers to integrate art in their classroom curriculum.

First Star Inc. Greater Washington Academy (Washington, DC)--$25,000 will support approximately 30 students in First Star's four-week residential summer immersion program at George Washington University. The program includes college-level coursework, intensive core academic classes, workshops, and more.

Higher Achievement Program Inc. (Washington, DC)--$35,000 will support summer staff salaries and enrichment activities at HAP's six summer academies in Washington, DC, and Alexandria, which serve 570 students in grades 5-8. The academy consists of advanced curriculum, field trips, high school transition and college preparation workshops, and high school and college visits.

Montgomery College Foundation - Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (Montgomery County, MD)--$30,480 will support 50-75 ACES students in grades 9-12 identified as high-achieving and low-income by providing year-round interventions focused on college access and preparation and summer bridge programs focused on college survival skills, study habits, and time management skills. The grant will also allow Montgomery College to provide students with up to a $2,500 scholarship to attend Montgomery College in the 2014-15 academic years.

The Phillips Collection (Washington, DC)--$30,000 will support the Museum's Art Links: Museum-in-Residence program, which serves 60 teachers and 900 students and their families at three underserved DC public and public charter schools. The program includes teacher training, interactive museum visits, Young Artists exhibitions, family events, and transportation.

Washington Jesuit Academy (Washington, DC)--$15,000 will support summer staff and enrichment activities for the school's seven-week summer program for 90 students in grades 5-8. Students will receive rigorous academic instruction in core subjects and participate in a variety of enrichment activities.

Washington Tennis & Education Foundation (Washington, DC)--$25,000 will fund salaries of staff who will work with 110 students mostly in elementary and middle school grades. Students will receive instruction and homework tutoring, in addition to professional tennis coaching. In the summer, students will participate in daily programming and compete in a national tennis tournament. WTEF was a Good Neighbor Grant recipient in 2012.

Young Playwrights' Theater (Washington, DC)--$10,000 will support the In-School Playwriting Program to bring professional teaching artists into high-poverty classrooms for 12 weeks to guide students in writing original plays, scenes, monologues and other dramatic works and see them performed by professional actors. In 2013-14, the program will serve 2,000 students in 67 classrooms at 21 schools in Northern Virginia and Washington, DC. YPT was a Good Neighbor Grant recipient in 2012.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need. Because we believe that high-potential, low-income students will excel educationally when given the resources to develop their talents, the Foundation supports exceptional students from elementary school to graduate school through scholarships, grants, direct service, and knowledge creation and dissemination. Founded in 2000 by the estate of Jack Kent Cooke, the Foundation has awarded $120 million for over 2,000 scholarships and $76 million in grants to organizations that support our mission. www.jkcf.org

SOURCE Jack Kent Cooke Foundation