The Rev. Belle Mickelson, surrounded by her staff, was honored with the Purpose Prize on Feb. 10, at a gala event at San Francisco’s Jazz Center. The Purpose Prize is an Encore.org program that celebrates the achievements of people over 60 who are using their retirement years to create innovative solutions to difficult social issues. Mickelson is one of six national winners and the first Alaskan to win this prestigious award.
Over the past 10 years, Mickelson has developed a school music camp program called Dancing with the Spirit that has traveled to 30 Alaskan Native villages, most of them many times, in an effort to encourage healthy living and maintain Native culture, language and traditions by connecting elders and youth through music. Dancing with the Spirit staff arrive in remote Alaskan villages with a plane load of guitars and fiddles and a color-coded method of teaching that allows all the kids to be playing for a community concert and dance by the end of the week.
For more information, visit http://www.dancingwiththespirit.org
