I plan to support early childhood development by continuing my education and pouring all of the artistic experiences I've gained as a performing artist and the things I'm learning at Umass Boston back into the youth in my community. As a theater and music teacher, I spend most of my time shaping Boston’s next generation of artists from K2 - 12th graders. In association with Boch Center, I teach theater to students across Boston Public Schools from early education to high school. While with the Huntington Theatre Company, I teach August Wilson monologues, introducing middle and high school students to the rich cultural narratives inherent in Wilson's acclaimed works. Early childhood is my favorite sub-section to teach the arts to because young children aren’t afraid to use their imagination. As we get older we sometimes lose that imaginary spark that we need in theatre and music to really push the boundaries, but young children still enjoy the playful dynamics that go along with theatre and it is a joy to watch and teach. Most times I find that I learn just as much from them as they do from me. Growing up, my mom placed me in the M.E.T.C.O program, which essentially busses inner city kids to schools in the suburbs, for the hope of a better education. This program is where I got to spend time exploring and falling in love with the arts. I’m grateful for the experience but I also know that I was afforded a luxury most Boston public school students of all ages are not due to lack of funding. Now as an adult, it’s important to me that I keep pouring the arts back into the schools in my community. Reflecting on my childhood I know I could’ve benefited from having more educators who looked like me and I’m honored to be able to be the person I needed as a child, for the students in my community who I teach. If someone had asked me 6 years ago if I’d ever be a teacher, I probably would’ve said no, and even now I’m surprised at how much it means to me and how quickly our lives and perspectives change. I can’t imagine not being a performance art teacher now. I feel like I got to the point in my artistic career where you begin to feel the obligatory part of society, where it’s time to pour what you’ve learned into others and it is the greatest thing I have ever done.

Growing up in a low-income family has its highs and lows, and as I get older there are certain things that I know and understand much more now than I did when I was younger. Often times I like to think about the impacts that it’s had on my personality like the fact that when you grow up without much you’re use to sharing or even sacrificing so that your younger siblings can have, which makes it easy as an adult to give to others – but on the flip side of that, i’m so use to sacrificing that it’s very difficult for me to remember to save some of my time, energy and or blessings for myself. I’m one of 12 siblings on my father’s side and one of four on my mother’s side. My dad was in jail for most of my childhood and my mom was the sole provider for me and my 3 siblings until I turned 14 and got my first job after school at the Gap. When my dad was arrested, my mom lost the house she worked her whole life for and we bounced around between a few shelters and friends/family’s residences until we were able to be placed in a public housing unit in South Boston. I remember being so excited that I would finally only be sharing a room with my little sister as opposed to all of us being bunched in one room. We didn’t have cable or video games, but we had one hell of an ensemble of imaginations and could find a way to have a blast even if we didn’t have tangible things. Whether that was making up songs on the spot or playing hand games. I went to a M.E.T.C.O school and I got really lucky because I wore most of my moms old clothes, so I got the reputation as the “retro” kid, which is much easier than “the poor kid,” especially when you’re going to school in the suburbs. The hardest part about growing up in a low income household was explaining to my mom why I wouldn’t ask for something. I never wanted to be a burden and I felt like as the oldest girl, I could afford to make some sacrifices. My mom hated when I wouldn’t ask for money for field trips or to do activities with my friends and to this day I don’t regret it. But I understand how as a parent my mom wanted me to have some experiences where I could just be a kid. My mom was embedded in the arts most of her life and slowed down her career and eventually abandoned her passions because she needed to take care of us. I’ve since picked up the torch. I want to make my mom proud. I want to keep making art and teaching art to the next generations of artists. I want to achieve all of my goals and dreams, I want my mom to know that I appreciate everything she sacrificed to make sure that me and my siblings could have a better life. My upbringing shaped me into becoming a relentlessly hard worker, who knows how to find joy even in the toughest of circumstances and I’m grateful for every opportunity I get to make my family proud.

My name is Jalyse Ware, I’m 31 years old and I'm one of 12 children. I was born and raised in Boston and I’m currently a teaching artist and a Boston Performing artist. Once I graduate Umass Boston in the Spring of 2027, I will be the first in my family and of my siblings to complete a bachelor's degree. I’m currently a Theater & Africana Studies major with a minor in creative writing. I teach theater and music to Boston public school students during the school year and summer. I like to say that “by day, I try to inspire Boston's youth as a theater teacher; by night, I channel those skills into my explosive alter ego, ‘Cakeswagg’” I plan to make a positive impact in my community by continuing my education and pouring all of the artistic experiences I've gained as a performing artist and the things I'm learning at Umass Boston back into my community. As a theater and music teacher, I spend most of my time shaping Boston’s next generation of artists. In association with Boch Center, I teach theater to students across Boston Public Schools from elementary to high school. While with the Huntington Theatre Company, I teach August Wilson monologues, introducing students to the rich cultural narratives inherent in Wilson's acclaimed works. Growing up, my mom placed me in the M.E.T.C.O program, which essentially busses inner city kids to schools in the suburbs, for the hope of a better education. This program is where I got to spend time exploring and falling in love with the arts. I’m grateful for the experience but I also know that I was afforded a luxury most Boston public school students are not. Now as an adult, it’s important to me that I keep pouring the arts back into the schools in my community. Reflecting on my childhood I know I could’ve benefited from having more educators who looked like me and I’m honored to be able to be the person I needed as a child, for the students in my community who I teach. As an artist, I've been acting all my life, literally – I played Baby Jesus in Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity production, directed by Elma Lewis as a child and have continued in theater throughout my childhood and adulthood. As a performing artist, I performed at the 2024 Boston Calling Music Festival, the performance was praised by The Boston Globe where they recounted it being "highly dynamic and loads of fun”. I’m also deeply embedded in Boston’s local music community, winning the crowd-voted "Master of the Chamber" battle-rap event and delivering the closing performance at the 2024 Boston Music Awards, where I won “Video of the Year.” At the end of last summer I released Michelin Star, my sophomore album, which reflects my artistic growth. For this project I pushed beyond the lyrical rap I’m known for. This album explores influences from rock to R&B. I feel like this scholarship was made for people like me and I would be honored to be a recipient of the Kim Beneschott Creative Arts Scholarship. https://www.wbur.org/news/2025/07/22/kufre-n-quay-ufot-family-cycle-review https://open.spotify.com/artist/5qU9lkDnRyw1DeeBQa04L0 https://www.nbcboston.com/video/entertainment/hub-today/kufre-n-quay-hits-the-big-stage-at-boston-arts-academy/3771070/