Youth Center Art Teacher Awarded Educator of Excellence Award

Art teacher Penny Harris does not let limitations hold her back, especially when it comes to her students. Ms. Harris teaches at the Hamilton County Juvenile Court (HCJC) Youth Detention Center. For five years, she has used her classroom to help kids facing enormous odds, make art and make a difference in our community.

Ms. Harris’s dedication to her students has been recognized by Magnified Giving, a Cincinnati non-profit dedicated to creating opportunities for all children to be heard, empowered, and trusted. Ms. Harris is the recipient of the Bill Keating Jr. Educator of Excellence Award. The award was presented Sept. 17 by Mr. Keating’s daughter, Liz Keating.

As stated in the award program, “Penny’s career shows a deep-seated dedication to education and the arts, blending a rich background in service with a devotion to fostering creativity, artistic expression, and service in students.”

HCJC Court Administrator Liz Igoe says, “We are so proud of Ms. Harris and grateful to Magnified Giving for this much-deserved recognition. Our kids don’t typically get the chance to give back to their community. Many come from and are facing very challenging circumstances. But in Ms. Harris’s classroom, they are just kids. They’re learning, growing, and experiencing new opportunities, including learning to give back, which will help them become better adults. The impact she is making, with the support of Magnified Giving, is life-changing.”

Magnified Giving has a strong and unique partnership with the Youth Center thanks to Ms. Harris. Youth Center students cannot go to the non-profit to serve, so with the help of Magnified Giving, the opportunity to serve comes to them.

Ms. Harris helps her students identify and research non-profit organizations that are of interest to them. Then, they work on art projects on behalf of the organizations. For example, students made centerpieces out of books for a fundraising gala and painted Free Little Libraries for Queen City Book Bank. They’ve also worked with HER Cincinnati to create large female empowerment paintings for the Anna Louise Inn, which provides safe and affordable housing to women experiencing chronic homelessness.

Along with the hands on work the kids do, the partnership with Magnified Giving also provides our students the responsibility to award non-profits $1,000 in grant funding.

Recipients to date include Queen City Book Bank, HER Cincinnati, the Children’s Law Center, Ohio Innocence Project, Girls on the Run, Pets in Need of Greater Cincinnati, Never the Less, and Best Friends Pet Assisted Therapy.

Just like most high school kids, the children at the Youth Center are required to do community service in order to graduate from high school, 120 hours for Cincinnati Public School graduates.

“Penny is fabulous when it comes to the creativity she uses to overcome restrictions,” says Kelly Collison, executive director of Magnified Giving. “We never tell her, we can’t do this. We consider the barriers, focus on the end goal and identify the small hurdles we need to jump over to make our program work for her kids.”

Research shows that participating in service programs has a positive impact on teen’s mental health, makes them more responsible and boosts their self-esteem. Thank you to Ms. Harris, and Magnified Giving, for giving kids at the Youth Center the opportunity to serve our community.