PHS Drama Club Awarded $10K from NBC’S R.I.S.E. America Grant

Fifty high school theater groups have risen above 1,000 applicants to claim NBC’s R.I.S.E. America grants, and Peekskill High School is proud to announce that the PHS Drama Club is one of them!

The program – inspired by the network’s upcoming drama “Rise” about a high school theatre department and its effects on a small town – is awarding a half-million dollars to high school theatre programs across the country.

Through R.I.S.E. (Recognizing and Inspiring Student Expression) America, NBC has awarded each of the 50 winning schools with a $10,000 grant that will cover the critical needs of their theatre programs ranging from production expenses to technical equipment and master classes. NBC is facilitating the program in partnership with the Educational Theatre Foundation (ETF), a non-profit organization dedicated to shaping lives through theatre education.

“In all my years of teaching, if there was one group of students worthy of this award, it’s this one,” said PHS Theater Teacher and Drama Club Director, Mr. Terry Sandler. “These kids are rich with passion, love and excitement. We are so thankful to NBC and the Educational Theater Foundation for this amazing opportunity.”

The good news was revealed to students on Monday afternoon via a video featuring cast members of NBC’s “Rise.” Students reacted with gasps, cheers and some even shed a few tears of joy when they heard they had won.

PHS senior and PHS Drama Club treasurer Emily Lyles noted that, “it felt great to be recognized as a group that’s talented enough, and deserves the grant, and to receive recognition from a company as big as NBC.”

“I really felt like we deserved this, but I wasn’t sure if we were going to win because I know there are a lot of other schools out there in need just like us,” said Lyles. “I’m just so grateful because I saw what this club was as a freshman. We had such a small group of kids, and it’s become so cool to be in drama club and everyone wants to be in it. And now we have the resources to show how much this club means to us.”

To apply for the grant, the Peekskill High School Drama Club submitted a video celebrating their theatre program, as well as a 500-word essay explaining why the club should be awarded the grant and how they would use the $10,000 if they won. They also submitted a letter of recommendation from their school principal endorsing the application.

Peekskill’s club plans on using the grant funds to enhance their spring musical’s production, to purchase a projector for their theater to assist with scenery changes and to take current club members on a theater themed field trip.

The PHS Drama Club’s spring production of Disney’s, “Beauty and the Beast” will open on Thursday, April 26 at 7:00 p.m. in the PHS Theater.