We are extremely excited and honored to announce that CUP's Urban Investigations has been awarded the 2015 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award, the nation’s highest honor for creative youth development programs.

At a White House ceremony on November 17th, First Lady Michelle Obama presented the award to CUP’s Executive Director Christine Gaspar and Urban Investigations alumnus Shaffiou Assoumanou, a senior from International Community High School in the South Bronx.

CUP and 11 other awardees were chosen from a pool of more than 285 nominations and 50 finalists from 50 states. In addition to the national recognition bestowed by receipt of the prestigious award, CUP will also receive $10,000 to support its programming and engage more young people across New York City.

The National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award recognizes and supports outstanding programs that lay new pathways to creativity, expression, and achievement outside of the regular school day. These programs excite and engage a range of students, cultivating imagination, collaboration, discipline and academic success, with demonstrable results.