First Lady Michelle Obama honors Holyoke Care Center

First Lady Michelle Obama honors Holyoke Care Center

By Dennis P. Hohenberger
Turley Publications Correspondent

HOLYOKE – In a White House ceremony, First Lady Michelle Obama honored the Care Center on Nov. 2 with National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award.
The Care Center takes a prep school, humanities-centered approach in preparing young mothers for the GED or high school equivalency exam. Many of the students go onto two or four-year colleges. Anne Teschner, the Care Center’s executive director, was joined by Tashia Davis, a 19-year-old mother of twins and Brendaliz Rivera, a student in the program.
Davis, who dropped out of high school in the eleventh grade, completed the center’s Clemente Program, which features rigorous academics taught in collaboration with Bard College. Davis also obtained her GED through the Care Center. She is a full-time liberal arts major at Holyoke Community College.
Davis said the White House visit meant a lot to her. “I felt very honored and proud of myself,” she said. The Care Center, said Davis, “opened doors” for her, and described life before as a “runaround.”
Teschner said the Care Center was one of twelve organizations to receive the award. Around 500 other organizations were in contention.
She said the award is the “highest honor” a program like the Care Center can receive. “It was really exciting to be awarded this,” said Teschner. “For us it meant a real ratification of our work. We know what we’re doing with the arts and humanities is important, but getting ratified on a national level is very exciting.”
The Care Center was recognized for their highly regarded poetry program, which allow students to write and read their own works. The organization also invites local poets to read their works, and includes assistance from the Smith College Poetry Center.
The organization usually spends a semester examining a particular topic in the humanities. This year, students focused on the meaning of true love, in both a historical and literary framework. Teschner said it gives students a chance to talk about “big ideas.”
“There’s truly nothing like this anywhere in the country,” she said of the Care Center. “Part of this award is recognizing that, that we’re using tools usually discarded when thinking about how to best educate teen moms or kids living in poverty or kids not doing well in school.”
She said the center’s approach has proven successful for students, as their reading comprehension and writing abilities greatly improve.
During the White House visit, Teschner met with the other 11 programs that received the award. She said one program works with Native-American youth, who write music and perform in a string quartet. A school in Philadelphia, she said, perfect student’s skills in arts and crafts, while another center uses dance as a teaching tool.
Two programs were chosen to represent the “spirit of the award” said Teschner, with the Care Center being one. Brendaliz Rivera, a student, read one of her poems and spoke at the event.
Teschner said she appreciated the “deeply symbolic” nature of the White House, and she understood that the three of them represented the Care Center and Holyoke. “There was this sense of awe as we walked through the building,” which included an encounter with Bo, the Obama’s beloved dog. “It’s a spectacular and celebratory building. You really felt it,” she said.
Teschner described the First Lady as a “graceful” person, who had inspiring words on the meaning of arts and humanities and the roles they play in people’s lives, especially at-risk youth. “She’s very much at ease, but she a very commanding woman,” she said.
Teschner said the award represents that “change can truly happen.” It was only a short time ago, according to Teschner, that Davis was living in a homeless shelter. “You can literally can go from a homeless shelter to the White House.”

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