1 live, interactive, 8-professional musician, Blues and R&R concert with education for 3-schools in the Los Angeles area.

K-12 STEAM education

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

We will reach approximately 300 “last-chance” students who are beginning their lives with extreme burden and inner-city stresses including pregnancy. They are in dire need of our care and inspiration. Many are familiar with the judicial “system”. All are attempting to find any reason to continue school and get a diploma. The program directly affects the lives of the students and their families, by bringing art, communication, and camaraderie in school to those who are at risk of falling prey to negative situations.
Classroom as well as neighborhood art alliances and friendships arise. These include singing, poetry, instrumental and poetry appreciation, and amateur performing groups. The impact of this grant will inspire, motivate, and educate young people by direct contact with musicians and live popular music.We will also give a file of our 38-page Music History/Theory Handbook to each school; there are simple and innovative extensions to our program within.

Saturday Night Bath Band (leader + 7) will produce and perform a live, interactive concert with musical instrument clinics for 3-schools. This provides access to our popular music performance and education, specifically our brief instrument descriptions, and their current and past famous performers. Many are continuation high schools, some of which are primarily for pregnant girls in their early teens.We will include acoustic musical instrument tutorials before and after the performances. The band converses in a relaxed and informal manner, performing old and composing blues songs with the students. The proposed sites are: Angel’s Gate (San Pedro), Alonzo (LA), and Stoney Point (Chatsworth). Should scheduling conflicts occur, Mission (San Fernando), Dan Isaacs (Wilmington), Jane Addams Middle (Lawndale), Moneta (Gardena), and Rose City (Pasadena) would be alternates.
The musicians will give pre and post-concert Blues technique and composition workshops, including “skeletal harmony” (two or three-chord I, IV, V progressions), and elementary “free-style” lyrics. Simple music chords and melody will be written down. New peer identification & artistic relations with students occur with our musicians. An extensive number of follow-up referrals are included. We will go directly into the classroom or small courtyards. One-on-one musical instrument clinics are given by the musicians. This creates personal bonds.. Those who remember 10-things that we talk about win a harmonica.

Teachers, Principals, and officials have said that improvement in student’s social and artistic attitudes are enormous and cumulative after we visit. We perform a vital program of fostering art as well as social harmony and productivity in young student’s lives; we believe that they will “give back” to their peers and society.

We will send 3-questionnaires that represent a baseline evaluation; they are: 1) the styles of music thought to have been heard and which musical instruments were remembered, 2) goals/milestones as a noticed percentage increase in social, verbal, and other interaction, and 3) a 2/3-page student essay. We will follow-up by calling the Principals and e-mailing two referral lists: music study & apprenticeships, and scholarships available. There are documented increases in concentration, awareness of current popular music, rhythms, rhymes, math, and poetry. Measurable improvement in focus, test scores and grades, and greater peer interactions occur and linger long after our visit. We will also call the schools and mail a Creative Student Tracking Survey (CST) that praises and give letters of reference to involved students.