WOW!! What a way for the Saving Our Cinderellas of Willa Cather Elementary 2017-2018 school year to kick off.
On Thursday September 21st, Director/Producer Sanaa Hamri of the number one hit show, FOX Empire, put together a very special visit for selected girls from the Saving Our Cinderellas program from Will Cather Elementary school to come visit the set, which truly was an experience of a lifetime for the girls.
The start of the tour with Ms. Jane Williamson and Olivia Giglia of Empire involved a brief meeting to discuss the flow of the visit, with lead teacher/mentor, Jacki Hydock and Willa Cather assistant principal Ms. Relerford and former principal, Ms. King of the school.
After listening on what their day will involve, the Cinderellas would now begin their field trip that they would never forget. They visited some of the cast key sets such as Cookies, Jamal and Akeem’s residence as well as the amazing night club that Lucious makes his artists famous.
As the Cinderellas could not imagine the field trip could not get any better, they were pleasantly surprise when Director/Executive Producer and mentor Sanaa, took a brief time out on one of the shooting scenes, to have actor Jussie Smollett come by and share some hugs and welcomes to the Cinderellas to the Empire set.
Also that day, the phenomenal Academy Award Winner, Forrest Whitaker was also taping and took time to speak with the Cinderellas as well. Empire saved the best for last, as newly married couple and Saving Our Cinderellas Ambassador, Grace and Trai Byers ended the tour by taking induvial photos with the girls and doing a special Cinderellas shout out with the girls.
Assistant Principal Relerford stated, “The Cinderellas had the time of their lives. The return trip to school on the bus was filled with comments about their favorite moments…… from the photos with the cast members… to the walk on the dance stage…to actually being on the various sets…. to impromptu acting and singing…… to realizing the many facets to the industry and visualizing the possibilities for their future…to anticipating sharing their experiences with family and friends.”
She concluded, “Please do not underestimate the impact of this experience on their lives. These are girls who have had verbal and physical confrontations with each other in the school community. They had an opportunity to bond together as friends on this trip and find out how they are so…. much alike than different.
Thank You and many thanks to the entire Empire Team for providing this memorable experience to the Cinderella of Cather School!”