By Jessica Baron | Executive Director
Dear Friends,
The microproject campaign you generously contributed to is now over and your charitable donation has been having a fantastic impact over the summer. Because of you, teachers in Mariposa, El Portal, Goleta, Santa Barbara, Carpinteria, Oxnard, Ventura, Santee, El Cajon, San Diego, Los Angeles and Wicomo County, Maryland have been learning to teach through music using ukuleles this summer. AMAZING!
Collectively, these teachers will be reaching 7,000 students when school resumes, as promised by the campaign. With your help, our goals have been completely met.Congratulations and thank you!
Next, we are going to be able to help teachers acquire more ukuleles for their classes to use because you put some wind on our sails for this purpose.
One teacher who trained with us this summer is Aurora "Rory" Franck Thompson. Rory teaches music in Los Angeles Unified. Last year, she taught at five elementary schools every week. Imagine that. This year she has been assigned to teach in six schools! She will be introducing ukulele into her music programs in part because of the services you've helped us provide. And in addition to all her regular music teaching, Rory is going to become GITC's first LAUSD music certificated classroom teacher trainer for K-5 teachers in LA, San Pedro and Huntington Park! Her reach to kids through each teacher SHE will train is going to be huge.. 4000 more students at least will experience music with ukes.
Another phenomenal LAUSD music teacher who, like Rory, drove all the way to San Diego daily to further her training is veteran music educator Ellie Wong. Ellie's advocacy for developmental music education that includes every kind of learner is what brought our efforts to the heads of Music and Arts Education in LA in the first place. She has made it possible- on her own steam- for 800 students a week in 4 schools in Compton, Carson, Watts and South Central LA to experience the power of music and song with ukulele. And through her advocacy, we were brought in to train all the K-5 music teachers for her district. That reach is upwards to 75,000 students this fall.
But let's not stop talking here. In the Santa Barbara area, July was really exciting. Master level teachers from leading public charter schools met at Antioch University for a week of training in the mornings and their student-teacher counterparts met for the same level of training each afternoon. Both groups made outstanding progress, becoming tuneful singers, creative songwriters and fearless strummers. You can read about the program here in the Antioch news: http://www.antiochsb.edu/2015/guitars-in-the-classroom-take-over-antioch-campus/
San Diego has been rocking it, too. Teachers from 20 different schools have given up a week of their lives to learn to teach through music. Some are returning participants to GITC and many were new. Their enthusiasm, practicality, heart and determination has seen everyone advance significantly. And our trainer in East County, Dan Decker started the first GITC class for students who have been incarcerated and released into community schools. A whole "nuther" story of joyful turnarounds and success. We'll be sending out a full enewsletter soon if you'd like to read more. You can sign up to get that email right on the homepage at our website.
All this is to say that without YOU, none of this could have happened. You are invaluable. You make magic a reality for teachers and that empowers them to make it happen for students. Together, we are that village that is raising America's children. I hope you will stay with us, continue giving what you can when you are moved to do so. Every time you help, the effects are felt in five concentric circles- from our core crew outward to receiving schools, outward again to the teachers, outward yet again to students and last, from the students to their families. One gift means you are changing so many lives.
Thanks again for sharing your love of music, kids, teachers and your concern for the future of education.
With you for the children,
Jess
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