The new New York City Public Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels was in Tremont Saturday afternoon, as he attended the Community School District 10 Arts Festival. The festival took place at IN-Tech Academy.

Sixty-two schools participated this year, with more than 500 student musicians, actors, dancers and visual artists.

Samuels spoke with News 12 about the importance of events like these in the community.

"For me, arts are a critical component of our schools...When you think of our curriculum, some of our curriculum, you start with the arts and have the students think about it and then connect to literacy. Those are my priorities," Samuels said.