YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown City School District’s Y-STEAM and Grants department was awarded nine grant applications from the Ohio Arts Council totaling nearly $40,000 Thursday to support all elementary schools and middle schools.

Hip Hop Artist Demetrius Thomas, aka Nova the Rebel, is returning for the 2023-24 school year to teach Music Artist Development Part 2 workshops. He’s performed in Cuba and Mozambique, and plans to increase every student’s awareness about their culture’s impact on the world.

Thomas will work with students in grades K-8 for three days during all four quarters this year. The program will allow students to learn vocabulary development, calculating beats, sentence development and working effectively with others.

“Our district is full of talented scholars who need the magic of the arts to unlock their potential to achieve their dreams,” Y-STEAM supervisor Bridget Lambirght-Tammaelleo said. “The generous grant will afford our scholars to have that creative outlet to express themselves and gain valuable communications skills.”

Receiving this grant aligns with YCSD’s One Plan, Climate & Culture, Strategy / Objective 2 Equity Access and Inclusive Practices. This residency supports reading comprehension standards with activities that promote vocabulary development. Additionally, scholars will be equipped to use fun, culturally relevant vocabulary development strategies at home or in the classroom, according to the school district.