By Jessica Baron | Executive Director
Dear Friend,
Thank you very much for your kind support of our work helping teens in the Juvenile Court and Community Schools get access to musical training and instruments this school year! Learning to make music and to play music as part of a group is having very positive influence on our students. We are seeing self awareness and confidence grow along with an improved ability to envision a better future and more effective, constructive self expression.
Together we've raised almost $1,000 and your gift really matters. This money is helping us supply instruments and training for GITC music programs at three San Diego County special schools this fall. The microproject had a limited time and we didn't reach the total goal so it has been "retired" by GlobalGiving.org. Neverthless, your help has been received and is making its way into these programs!
What does that help actually look like? It looks like each site is currently receiving 15 brand new guitar method books with practice CDs and 3 more acoustic guitars for students to play and practice on! Most exciting, each site is also receiving an electric guitar and an electric bass as well as an amplifier so they can transfer their basic acoustic skills to playing on a Stratocaster or Telecaster style instrument! These gifts are made possible in part by your donations and in part from individual donors helping beyond this one microproject. It takes a village- or two- to change lives for the better.
The electric instruments you are helping us provide are fantastic for helping these older students create guitar sounds and parts they can relate to based on popular genres played by bands on radio, YouTube, BandCamp (https://bandcamp.com/) and more. They will also help these teens learn to collaborate with each other to create ensembles.
Our lead instructor in these schools, James Clarkston is doing remarkable work with 15 students in each program! The kids are enthusiastic, willing to work at the instrument, and excited about their new abilities. Students suffering from oppositional behavior or depression are doing markedly better thanks to the hope and motivation they feel when they play the guitar and sing together.
Thank you for giving your heart and hard earned dollars to make this happen. We will look forward to sending you photos in late December to show you the results of your charity. Right now we are just getting everything delivered.
If you wish to help Guitars in the Classroom further, either with this special cause or another one, please feel free to look at our other projects here on GlobalGiving.org or drop me a line at jess@guitarsintheclassroom.org. I'd welcome the chance to hear your thoughts, brainstorm and answer questions anytime. This work is about participating together in whatever ways we can. Your opinions matter.
Wishing you a joyful holiday season ahead and thanks again, so very much,
Jess
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