Innovation, originality, and impact
- President Barack Obama commended MDD and Dr. DeGarmo for “your service to your communities and the nation.”
- The National Endowment for the Arts called MDD’s public school dance program “a national model.”
- Miss America 2019 Nia Imani Franklin endorsed our program and its impacts on New York City’s public elementary school students.
- Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer proclaimed Nov. 17, 2017 as Manhattan’s Mark DeGarmo Dance Day.
- Mark DeGarmo helped develop the NYC Department of Education’s Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance, serving 1.1 million students in 1,800 public schools.