Philadanco founder, Joan Myers Brown, Featured in New Book

By: May. 23, 2013
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The Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadanco) founder Joan Myers Brown will be featured in a student-produced book, "Leading Healthy Change in Our Communities 2013. The book, written and illustrated by Healthy NewsWorks student journalists, profiles a dozen prominent leaders who have something important to say about health and are giving back to the community.

Joan Myers Brown is founder of The Philadelphia Dance Company and The Philadelphia School of Dance Arts. She also established the International Association of Blacks in Dance and the International Conference of Black Dance Companies and has been widely recognized for her contributions to the arts and the community.Her life and career are the subject of Joan Myers Brown & the Audacious Hope of the Black Ballerina: A Biohistory of American Performance by Brenda Dixon Gottschild.

Healthy NewsWorks, now celebrating its 10th school year, empowers students to transform the health of their communities by reporting, writing, illustrating, and producing health publications and related media. Its goal is to engage elementary and middle school students in grades 3 to 8 intellectually and creatively to address some of the most pressing health and wellness issues facing their generation such as nutrition, obesity, and diabetes. The Leading Healthy Change book project is in its second year.

"Our book program challenges students to take their reporting and writing skills to a new level and gives them the opportunity to engage with some wonderful role models who are making our communities healthier and safer," says Marian Uhlman, director of Healthy NewsWorks. "Our students have learned so much from each of these leaders, and we look forward to sharing their stories with others."

Healthy NewsWorks will celebrate the student journalists' accomplishments with a book-signing and fundraiser event on Wednesday, June 5 at the Merion Tribute House in Merion Station, PA, from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

A number of the interviewees and student authors will be on hand to sign copies of the book. Sarah Martinez-Helfman, executive director of the Eagles Youth Partnership, who was one of the leaders included in the 2012 edition of the book, has written the 2013 book's foreword and will deliver the keynote address at the book launch event. All proceeds will support the Healthy NewsWorks student media project.

More information about Healthy NewsWorks and the book-signing event are available online at www.HealthyNewsWorks.org.



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