Another generous donor has stepped forward to anonymously gift graduates $500 each at an independent arts school in Kelowna, B.C.
Michael Guzzi, executive director at Studio9 School of the Arts, said the anonymous donor was inspired by the acts of Lance and Tammy Torgerson, who donated $500 to every Grade 12 student in the Central Okanagan’s public school district.
Graduates of independent and private schools in the region were not included in the initial gift-giving, prompting the arts enthusiast to open their pockets to Studio9 grads.
“There is that perception that private schools or independent schools are wealthy people sending their kids somewhere else. That is not the case. The majority of our families are mid- and low-income families,” Guzzi said.
“They wanted to make sure that other students will be taken care of, and they happen to be arts patrons.”
Guzzi said the COVID-19 pandemic has been especially challenging on arts students, given the suspension of in-person live performances.
“They missed out on their live performances that they do each year. For the grads, that’s their swan song because they have been working in dance, music, theatre all their years here and then they would perform in front of people and they lost that,” he said.
Student performances were pre-recorded or streamed for families to enjoy.
“The donor just felt the grads, as well as other students, have endured some strange and chaotic times in their lives,” Guzzi said.
“They felt that it was amazing that students got creative with streamed and video-on-demand performance events.”
Traditional grad ceremonies were also disrupted by gathering restrictions, with the cancellation of the annual grad ball.
The small cap-and-gown, in-person certificate ceremonies will go ahead this year with family members in attendance.
Guzzi said the grads were shocked by the anonymous donor’s generosity.
“They were pretty blown away because there was no expectation. They knew the other donation was out there. One of their responses was, ‘At least we get to have our certificate ceremonies!'”
Last week, Central Okanagan grads were notified of the Torgersons’ $1-million donation. The couple tried to remain anonymous but later came forward.
“We just felt it was time for something positive. Kids have had a very, very difficult year. Moving into the end of grad and the rest of your life — there are some tough decisions,” Lance Torgerson said.
The school district has developed a registration system allowing students to apply for their $500 gift online.