Maná Launches Scholarship Program to Benefit Latino Students

Posted on September 10, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Maná is helping the next generation…

The legendary Mexican rock band has announced The Maná Scholarship Program to benefit Latino students who want to achieve their dream of furthering their education.

In partnership with their Selva Negra Foundation and the Univision Foundation, and administered by Scholarship America, the program will assist up to 15 students between the ages of 18 and 35 who identify as Latino and who plan to continue their education in college or vocational school programs.

According to the official press statement, “these scholarships are intended to help applicants who have a demonstrated commitment to positive change in their communities; specifically, those who have chosen to help clean up or otherwise improve the environment around them.”

The Maná Scholarship Program is open to high school seniors or graduates and to current college undergraduates who are either U.S. citizens, U.S. legal residents, or undocumented residents of the U.S., including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients.

Only the first 1,000 applications submitted will be considered.

Deadline to apply is at 3:00 pm CT on October 23.

For eligibility, required documents and more information, visit here.

Guillermo del Toro to Hold Master Class on Scary Storytelling at San Diego Comic-Con

Posted on July 2, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Guillermo del Toro ready to hold class…

The 54-year-old Mexican filmmaker, a two-time Oscar-winner for The Shape of Water, is heading to San Diego Comic-Con.

Del Toro, who produced the CBS Films/eOne Entertainmen tthriller Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark, will tag team with that film’s director André Øvredal.

They will hold a Master Classon scary storytelling to be heldon Saturday, July 20.

Del Toro and Øvredal — whose previous fright forays as director include The Autopsy of Jane Doe and Trollhunter — will give fans an exclusive window into how they translated the iconic and scary imagery from Stephen Gammell’s book series illustrations to their upcoming film. CBS Films, in conjunction with Lionsgate, releases Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark on August 9.

The film takes place in 1968 America. While change is blowing in the wind, far removed from the unrest is the small town of Mill Valley where for generations, the shadow of the Bellows family has loomed large. It is in their mansion on the edge of town that Sarah, a young girl with horrible secrets, turned her tortured life into a series of scary stories, written in a book that has transcended time—stories that have a way of becoming all too real for a group of teenagers who discover Sarah’s terrifying home.

Del Toro will next direct Nightmare Alley.

Luis Fonsi Named an All-Star Ambassador for New Grammy Music Education Coalition Campaign

Posted on February 7, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Luis Fonsiis raising awareness about music education…

The 40-year-old Puerto Rican singer/songwriter has been named to the Grammy Music Education Coalition’s (GMEC) national campaign on behalf of its new All-Star Ambassador program.

Additional members of the All-Star Ambassador program include singer Bebe Rexha, pop/R&B artist Rita Ora, Broadway veteran Kristin Chenoweth, Grammy winner Stephen Marley, country newcomer Caroline Jones, classical pianist Lang Lang, Guns N’ Roses’ Matt Sorum, saxophonist Mindi Abair, songwriter Regina Spektorand Philadelphia rock band War on Drugs.

Selected for their personal connections to music education, the diverse group of creatives will be working to spread awareness and raise funds for music education.

In a release announcing the Ambassador program, GMEC executive director Lee Whitmore said, “The Grammy Music Education Coalition is thrilled to be celebrating universal music education participation by American elementary, middle and high school students. Today, we join with our GMEC member and partner, the Grammy Museum Foundation, to inspire a future vision for careers and the arts for young people from around the Los Angeles area.”

Whitmore also announced that the GMEC has launched intensive music programs in Philadelphia and Nashville. Focusing on funding and services for both cities’ public school systems, the goal for this inaugural school year is to invest $1 million in each district while overseeing and coordinating the programs established by the Coalition’s partners. For instance, the Philadelphia slate includes a commercial music curriculum developed with DASH, Live Nationand Recording Academymembers along with a program coordinator. The Nashville investment will feature an elementary music coach, a program coordinator and professional development through spring/summer music and audio technology events for all teachers.

“Our commitments in these first two school systems for the next three years are focused and will have a lasting impact,” added Whitmore. “The Coalition and community investment goals for the school systems are $5 million each.” Rounding out its series of announcements, the GMEC revealed members of its Founders Circle, board and executive advisory council (grammymusiced.org).

The campaign will get underway this spring.

Guillermo del Toro Announces Scholarship for Aspiring Mexican Filmmakers

Posted on March 11, 2018 by Tom Castaneda

Guillermo del Toro is ready to help the next generation of Mexican filmmakers…

The 53-year-old Mexican writer-director, who won two Oscars earlier this month, has returned to his hometown of Guadalajara with some news.

After his romance-fantasy film The Shape of Water took home four Academy Awards last Sunday, including best picture and director, del Toro attended the Guadalajara International Film Festival, where he’s imparting a series of free master classes to thousands of fans.

Following the first class on Saturday, the festival inaugurated a state-of-the-art cinema named after del Toro, and then organizers announced the creation of the Jenkins-Del Toro International Film Scholarship, a $60,000 annual award for an aspiring Mexican filmmaker to study abroad at a prestigious film institute.

“If we change a life, if we change a history, we change a generation,” said del Toro, whose genre filmmaking has inspired a new generation of talent in Mexico.

Del Toro and fellow countrymen Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity) and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman) regularly produce films from up-and-coming Mexican filmmakers.

“The first push is very important,” said del Toro, who will oversee a jury that awards the scholarship at the Guadalajara film fest each year.

del Toro also announced that his At Home with Monsters exhibit will hit museums in Guadalajara and Mexico City next year. The exhibit features 500 drawings, paintings and concept pieces from del Toro’s works, including creepy life-size sculptures of monster figures. The collection, to be curated by Oscar-winning production designer Eugenio Caballero (Pan’s Labyrinth), bowed in 2016 at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Sonia Sotomayor Helping Develop Civics Education-Related Video Games

Posted on December 27, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Sonia Sotomayor is raising the game of children nationwide…

The 63-year-old Puerto Rican Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, the first Latina to serve in that role, is helping develop video games to mold the minds of young students.

Sotomayor – who sits on the board of iCivics (a nonprofit that promotes civics education) – envisioned a Spanish-language computer game that could make the subject more accessible to English learners.

The topic is often difficult for English learners, because the books are dense and written in academic language. In 2011, her idea became a reality with a game titled Do I Have a Right?, which has a Spanish-language version, ¿Tengo Algún Derecho?

Since its launch, it’s successfully helped English learners connect with civics material, according to NBC News.

Research shows that knowledge of civics leads to more engaged citizens. This means they’ll be more likely to vote and to understand what their rights are. In Do I Have a Right? players run their own law firms and take on pro-bono cases for clients who believe they have had their rights violated. Each game is about a half an hour long, and doesn’t feel as laborious as reading a chapter of a textbook.

Students have vouched for the game. For 12-year-old Yosviel, who arrived to the United States in March 2016, it allows him to learn about his rights in a fun way. “The games allow me to learn about the rights that I have as a citizen; to me that is important since I am a new immigrant,” he told NBC News. “The games are also very entertaining and much more fun than traditional homework.”

Teachers have similarly seen how this game makes a difference, which is what Sotomayor was shooting for. “Supporting students is a cause very near to my heart,” she said. “We need all young people engaged in the future of our democracy. Initiatives such as this one mark an important step towards ensuring that, no matter what language they speak, all young people have access to the knowledge and skills they need to fully participate in those important conversations.”

Carlos Vives Partners with Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation for Berklee College of Music Scholarship

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Vives is helping the next generation of musicians…

The 56-year-old Colombian singer-songwriter has partnered with the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation to provide financial support to an accepted student at Berklee College of Music toward a bachelor’s degree,

“Carlos Vives not only represents musical excellence and achievement, but the equally significant qualities of generosity and altruism,” said Manolo Diaz, the senior vice president of the Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation, adding “His legacy will also include changing the life of the scholarship recipient.”

The Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation, which provides support to Latin students at Berklee College, is now accepting applications for the Carlos Vives Scholarship, valued at up to $200,000.

“The ability to support a new generation of Latin musicians brings me great joy,” said the 11-time Latin Grammy and two-time Grammy winner in a press statement.

Vives now joins the list of previous superstars, like Enrique Iglesias, Juan Luis Guerra and Miguel Bosé, who have provided college-level scholarships for Latin music students.

For more information on how to apply, visit LatinGRAMMYCulturalFoundation.com.

Luis Fonsi Joins Voices with Charly Black for “Party Animal” Remix

Posted on September 16, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Luis Fonsi is ready to party…

The 39-year-old Puerto Rican singer has joined forces with dancehall artist Charly Black on a new rendition of the dancehall-pop anthem “Party Animal.”

Unlike Fonsi’s global smash “Despacito” and “Kissing Strangers” remix (with DNCE and Nicki Minaj), on this track he sings in English while adding in some Spanish words to keep some Latin flavor.

“Party Animal” was produced by Atella (who as part of the Atellagali duo has made official remixes for Axwell /\ Ingrosso, Imagine Dragons and J Balvin).

It was mixed by Josh Gudwin (Justin Bieber and Juanes among many others).

Shakira to Open New School, Institución Nuevo Bosque, in Barranquilla

Posted on March 30, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

School’s in session for Shakira…

The 40-year-old Colombian superstar is opening a new school in her native hometown of Barranquilla.

Shakira’s Pies Descalzos Foundation is joining forces with FC Barcelona Foundation and La Caixa, a banking foundation, to open the Institución Nuevo Bosque — Pies Descalzos’ seventh school in Colombia.

The institute will be built in one of Barranquilla’s most conflict-ridden districts, which is where most of Shakira’s institutions have been built throughout Colombia.

“When we started to build schools in Colombia 20 years ago, we chose remote areas where there was absolutely nothing at all — no infrastructure, roads or even potable water,” the “Chantaje” singer said in a statement.

“We built schools where the government was absent and thousands of children didn’t have access to quality education. The transformation was immediate – jobs were generated, malnutrition plummeted and the students responded well academically.”

In a video shared by FC Barcelona, Shak further expands on the importance of investing in education.

“We live in a globalized world and we need to invest in children if we want to have a prosperous world. Helping children is the most effective way to eradicate poverty.”

Institución Nuevo Bosque will open its doors in two years.

Back in December, Shakira’s Pies Descalzos’ school in Barranquilla was named the No. 1 public school in all of Colombia, according to a study. The ranking was based on the students’ collective Saber 11 test scores.

Shakira Calls for Global Education Reform

Posted on September 21, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Shakira is calling for educational reform globally…

The 39-year-old Colombian superstar and activist appears in a new video calling for action on education.

“Our future generations will surpass our greatest expectations if we give them the tools to do so,” Shakira says in a video for The International Commission on Financing Global Education (also known as The Education Commission), that coincides with its new report on financing global education.

“They have the talent the potential and the power to change the world for the better. But we know that their future will be written by how we act today… Education is their birthright, not a luxury.”

Shakira, whose Pies Descalzos Foundation has built schools in Colombia, is a member of the United Nations commission, alongside current and former heads of state, Nobel laureates and education experts who include Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg, former Mexican president Felipe Calderón, and Anthony Lake, the Executive Director of UNICEF.

The Commission’s report calls for national governments to “reform their education systems to maximize learning and efficiency and to ensure that every child has access to quality education, free from pre-primary to secondary levels, through the progressive and sustained increase of domestic financing.”

That amounts to a tripling of the to over three trillion dollars a year by 2030.

Estefan Named to the Berklee College of Music Board of Trustees

Posted on July 3, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Gloria Estefan is joining the Board…

Berklee College of Music has announced that the 58-year-old singer, songwriter, actress and businesswoman and her husband Emilio Estefan are the newest members of the school’s board of trustees.

The Grammy and Latin Grammy-winning power couple have been part of the Berklee family since 2007 when they received honorary degrees.

In 2012, Gloria served as keynote speaker at the Berklee Teachers on Teaching conference.

Most recently, Gloria and Emilio appeared at the 2016 Tony Awards, where their Broadway musical On Your Feet, based on the Cuban artists’ life, was nominated for Sergio Trujillo‘s choreography.

Gloria, along with the cast, performed the hit song “Conga,” even getting Hamilton‘s Lin-Manuel Miranda on his feet.

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