Rasmussen Wins Strauss Scholarship

May 15, 2006
Contact: Andy Faught

Emily Rasmussen, a junior diplomacy and world affairs major at Occidental College, has been awarded a $10,000 Donald A. Strauss Public Service Scholarship to create a music appreciation course for Los Angeles elementary school students.

Rasmussen, of  Reno, Nev., will offer her Arts for Appreciation and Achievement (AAA) Music Program to children at Garvanza Elementary School in the northeast Los Angeles community of Highland Park. Occidental students will be recruited to design the curriculum.

 “AAA is important because it deepens the connection and understanding between Occidental and the surrounding community, while providing new outlets of creative expression for students from an at-risk elementary school,” Rasmussen said. “This program assists in the effort to keep children off the street after school by providing them with alternative forms of entertainment that encourage critical thinking, creativity and team work, as well as cultural and artistic understanding.”

Rasmussen created AAA in 2004 through Occidental’s Center for Community Based Learning. The program currently offers two classes per week in theater, ballet, jazz, and Afro-Haitian dance, imparting children basic techniques and history of the art forms. The sessions, which are taught by Occidental student volunteers, also provide pupils opportunities to experiment with creative expression.

“It feels amazing to receive such a prestigious award and recognition for my work with AAA,” Rasmussen said. “From the very beginning the program was intended to be mutually enriching and beneficial to all involved. I truly believe that this has been the case, and I’m thrilled to know that other people recognize this.”

The Newport Beach-based Donald A. Strauss Scholarship Foundation awards at least 14 scholarships a year to juniors at Occidental and 13 other California colleges and universities, including Caltech, Stanford, UC Berkeley and UCLA. The late Strauss, an Orange County business executive, had a lifelong interest in education and public service.