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Pennsylvania’s North Penn High
School has staged a performance event featuring the school’s thespians as a
fundraiser for the nonprofit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS every year since
a senior came up with the idea as a graduation project in 1999. The nonprofit
has assisted the school by donating signed Broadway memorabilia for auction and
even extended the idea by launching similar projects at other high schools.
By spring of 2012, the high school
chapter of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS had raised more than $1 million;
North Penn has contributed more than $50,000 of that total throughout the past
14 years. This year, the two North Penn seniors who are organizing the event
have renamed and expanded it to include not only actors, but also singers,
dancers, musicians, and other members of the school arts community as well as
middle school students. The Knight of the Arts, as the event is now called,
will feature performances by more than 200 students. There is no admission fee,
but the suggested donation is $5.
The performers include the school’s
jazz vocal group; a dance by the Indian Cultural Association; breakdancing by
the Korean Club’s B-Boy Crew; students form the three area middle schools
performing selections from their upcoming musicals; and individual students
doing monologues, singing, and performing Shakespeare. Also, “coffeehouse
performers” will be in the building concourse and organizers will hold a silent
auction featuring signed items from the most recent casts of Broadway shows.
Andrea Lee Roney, the high school’s theater teacher and director, will perform
a solo from the musical “Show Boat.” Roney commended the young people for
coming together like this. She noted that it shows that one person can make a
difference and collectively all can make a bigger difference.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
