The first recipient of this award is an esteemed Artlink teacher, Mr. Frank Katoola from Tender Talents School in Kasangati, Uganda. He is the founder of The Tender Talents School, and he is dedicated to creating a place where students can find and nurture their creative selves. Using the arts to help children heal, and to find a place to belong. The school’s goals statement says it all: “Fostering Success and Empowering Students to Achieve Their Dreams.” Over the past years, Frank has worked with Creative Connections to: -Bring to CT four International Young Performance Tours of Tender Talents’ student dancers, singers, and drummers -Coordinate over 25 ArtLink program partnerships -Produce and offer virtual performance workshops for USA classes -And most recently, serve as a virtual teaching artist in CT’s HOT (Higher Order Thinking) Schools Artist-in-Residency program Frank inspires everyone he meets, including the many USA educators and their students who have had the joy of connecting with him and his creative Tender Talents’ pupils.