Congrats to Our New Vincent Legacy Scholars!

Two Kansas City-area middle school students received the good news on May 23 that they’ve joined the elite group of Starlight Theatre’s Vincent Legacy Scholarship recipients. Seventh-grader Nahrya Williams (Raytown Middle School) and eighth-grader Faith Andrews-ONeal (St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School) were awarded $2,500 Vincent Legacy Scholarships to help advance their training in the performing arts.

Established in 2006 by Starlight and local community leaders Greg and Rebecca Reid, the Vincent Legacy Scholarship program provides minority middle-school students who show promise in the performing arts the funds and opportunity to further refine and improve their skills. The scholarship was generously founded by the Reids in memory of Greg’s infant son, Vincent.

To qualify for Starlight’s competitive scholarship program, students must demonstrate interest and strong ability in the performing arts, strong academic achievement and interest in community service.

In the past 11 years, a total of 29 Vincent Legacy Scholarships have been awarded.

Nahrya Williams
Raytown Middle School

Nahrya has been singing with the Kansas City Girls Choir for five years, performs as a soloist in musical productions at her school and church, and also has a passion for creating original music and lyrics. She serves the community by singing at nursing homes and hopes to volunteer with Red Cross Youth Services and a pet shelter in the future.

Nahrya’s family members, vocal instructor, choir director, piano teacher, the Reids and Starlight staff all came out to support and congratulate her as she accepted her scholarship during a surprise ceremony at school.

Nahrya plans to use her scholarship to further her singing and performance skills.

Faith Andrews-ONeal
St Paul’s Episcopal Day School

Faith excels in dance, having explored everything from ballet, jazz and tap to Irish step and hip hop in her 12-year dancing career. A competitive dancer for three years, she now trains at Kansas City Friends of Alvin Ailey. Faith has performed in A Christmas Carol at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, as well as in school musicals and school and church choirs. Faith completed more than 340 hours of community service in the past year, including serving as a counselor-in-training at her school.

At a surprise announcement during lunchtime at her school, Faith was congratulated by her family, Starlight staff, the Reids, teachers and her classmates.

Faith looks forward to using her scholarship for advanced dance training, as well as to explore singing and acting.

Starlight and the Reids are proud to honor Nahrya and Faith as our 2016 Vincent Legacy Scholars. We are thrilled to help them reach for the stars!