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Kayne West benefit concert urges kids to 'Stay in School'
Kayne West will perform June 11 at the Chicago Theatre in Chicago for the "Stay in School" benefit concert, which will be taped and aired on the Fuse network later this summer.
The "Stay in School" event is a collaboration between the community, corporate partnerships and The Kanye West Foundation, which was founded in 2007 by the late Dr. Donda West to help combat the severe dropout problem plaguing America's communities, according to a press release.
The event was conceived by David Abrams, a Chicago high school student who was inspired to create an incentive for kids to stay in school after he listened to a story on NPR about a Chicago student turning his education around after his mother offered him two tickets to a Lil Wayne concert if he brought up his grades and stayed in school.
Abrams went on to form S.H.O.W. (Students Helping Our World), which is run by a group of teens, supported by parents, and partnered with Chicago Public Schools, the City of Chicago, former Bears quarterback Kyle Orton and the Kanye West Foundation.
S.H.O.W. will offer free tickets to students who demonstrate marked improvements in attendance and/or grades in the last quarter of the current school year.
Approximately 3,000 inner-city and Chicago area students will have the opportunity to meet West and experience a behind-the-scenes look at how the hip-hop artist prepares for a concert. Prior to the concert, which will feature West and as-yet-unnamed special guests, the students will attend a pre-show sound check.
Tickets also are available for the general public beginning May 21 at Ticketmaster, LiveDaily's parent company.
