America
Sharanya Balaji to raise funds for US school
New York, Aug 22
An Indian-American classical
dancer is set to perform at a concert in California this weekend to
raise funds for a high-poverty elementary school, a media report said.
Sharanya
Balaji, a 16-year-old senior from Harker school, said she wants to help
the Grant Elementary School which lacks basic education facilities,
mercurynews.com reported on Friday.
"It was shocking to me. Arts
education was not there. I really wanted to do something that also meant
something to me and that I could continue into the future," said
Balaji.
"There are so many ways to raise a well-rounded child,
and the arts are one of them," Grant Elementary Principal Paulette Zades
said, adding that "We can give them academics all day, but they need
both sides of it."
Balaji will perform at Los Altos high school in California.
She
has won many competitions all over the world, including a junior
division prize at the prestigious Cleveland Thyagaraja festival in April
this year.
She has been dancing professionally since she was 12 and has raised funds for the school earlier also.