News from Guitars In The Classroom

A letter from our executive director....

American Schools Need Guitars in the Classroom More Than Ever, & Guitars in the Classroom Needs You!

Jessica Baron

As you probably know by now, the need for music instruction and inclusion in our schools is truly unprecedented these days. Guitars in the Classroom is responding to this need as quickly as we can by helping people start grassroots training programs for the teachers in their communities, and we need your ideas and help to make it happen. Your participation can be whatever you want to make it... volunteers make a difference at all levels of what we do- from writing PR copy or designing posters to assisting in teacher training classes or volunteering to join our teachers in training in their classrooms. And that's not all. GITC is about helping everyone find their passion and put it to use for the greater good. Music is our vehicle and guitars are our main tool, but this work is about bringing our communities together for the benefit of all. Please write us to explore the possibilities...

Know the truth about our music in our schools, read on below...

News
Flash

GITC wishes to enthusiastically thank these loyal guitar
sponsors, GODIN Guitars, the MARTIN Company, and
DAISY ROCK Girl Guitars for generously supplying instruments to our new programs at University of Oklahoma-Tulsa, and Laramie County Community
College in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and to our growing program in Mesick, Michigan. We also warmly thank
Works of Life Ministries and Online Car Donations
for donating matching grant funding to make
the program in Mesick possible!

	Getting to Know us: Phil Divinsky
Pictured above is Phil Divinsky, GITC Instructor for Portland, Maine, where a new class has begun. To his right is Valerie Birnhak Beaucoup, the winner of the raffled guitar at Patty Larkin's recent concert. Thanks to the brilliant Patty Larkin and Bette Warmer for advocating GITC at Patty's shows. To learn more about Patty Larkin's involvement with GITC, read below.

Featured Artist: Patty Larkin

Patty Larkin has always taken a creative approach to writing and performing music, and has been helping get the word out about GITC since 2005 when she went on tour with other notable female guitarists as part of her phenomenal project La Guitarra, in which 2% of the CD royalties went to helping fund the work of GITC. You can learn more about Patty Larkin's incredible music here, and more about her thoughts on GITC at our website.

Spotlight on: Art N' Soul - Encinitas, CA

Local Business Sponsor Funds GITC for San Diego!

Art N Soul is a gallery with a passion for local artists and commitment to social change. One hundred percent of store profit is donated to community charities, and since the gallery's opening in August, 2007, Guitars in the Classroom has been one of its fortunate beneficiaries!

Together, the gallery owners Cindy Blumkin and Paige Perkins and their volunteer staff, many artists, and the gallery's enthusiastic customers create a unique relationship supporting a greater cause- the well-being of their community. Their unusual business model makes sure everyone wins...artists receive 60% and with the remaining 40% they pay rent and other expenses, but because there are no salaries, every month they generate profits that are then donated at the end of the year- which is why over100 teachers are integrating music daily in their K-8 classrooms in San Diego.
Cindy and the GIrls

The gallery proudly carries a truly unique and eclectic array of art including colorful paintings, sculpture, functional art and wearable creations of all kinds. Mediums range from traditional to recycled. The success of the gallery has surpassed the owners' wildest dreams. In 2008, Art N Soul donated approximately $4,900 to each of their four partnering charities, the Community Resource Center, the Store front Shelter, A.R.T.S. and Guitars in the Classroom.

This donation, coupled with a generous grant from the NAMM Foundation is funding teacher training in four San Diego communities this year! Guitars in the Classroom thanks Cindy, Paige, and Art N Soul Gallery for being the community leaders who are helping teachers students discover their voices, talents, and the many benefits of making music across the curriculum. For more information on the gallery, please visit Art N' Soul's Website.

Teacher Feature

Pamela Light

White Knoll Middle School
West Columbia, South Carolina
Pamela Light - GITC Teacher

"I am a Spanish teacher, and I took the Guitars in the Classroom workshop in summer 2008 from the National Capital Language Resource Center. I have used my guitar almost daily in my classroom this school year! I am currently our school district''s Teacher of the Year, and recently the local newspaper ran an interview with a photograph of me. I am playing the guitar in the picture."

"Thank you again! Your organization has made such a difference to me and my students."

    Here is the wonderful new article!

    GITC Classroom Teacher Voted Teacher of the Year in Her District. Congratulations Pamela!

Folk Alliance 2009 - Memphis, TN

February Report from the Road
Guitars in the Classroom visits the 2009 Folk Alliance Conference
Memphis, Tennessee

Last month, GITC's founder and executive director, Jessica Baron attended the 2009 Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis, Tennessee. This visit marks GITC's first collaboration with Folk Alliance which has, for twenty years, served as the international headquarters for Folk Music and Dance. Folk Alliance Executive Director Louis Meyers responded enthusiastically to the idea of partnering with GITC as he aims to help Folk Alliance members connect more deeply with educators and schools to nurture folk traditions and strengthen school music programs. Because GITC offers musical leaders an innovative and effective way to pass their special knowledge and skills along to educators and the next generation, Jessica was invited to give a training workshop at the conference on February 20.

Guitars in the Classroom is indebted to two forward-thinking GITC Artist Outreach committee members and Folk Alliance participants- Randall Williams and Thom Wolke- for helping GITC connect with the Folk Alliance. These guys made it happen. More thanks to Cindy Cogbill, Director of Marketing for Folk Alliance, whose tremendous assistance and support in the line of duty made light the work.

Freedom Trolley

Can you take a moment to experience a little magic that happened at Folk Alliance? If so, this video link will take you to a brief musical gathering that happened on Friday morning when folk leaders and legends Guy Carawan, Rosalie Sorrels, and John McCutcheon collected friends in the lobby of the downtown Marriott hotel before catching a trolley to the Civil Rights Museum located in the Lorraine Motel. Folk Alliance caught this on video. (FYI, Jessica is standing to the right of John McCutcheon.)

Links and Info

Learn more about The Folk Alliance Here

You can read about Guy Carawan's influence on the civil rights movement and the inclusion of music as a form of peaceful protest here:

You can also learn about John McCutcheon here, and Rosalie Sorrels here.

	GITC Around The World
GITC-trained educator and school principal Chuck Knisely left America to teach in Saudi Arabia and took GITC with him. Someday these kids may just rock the Casbah! And the joy and creativity Chuck is bringing to foreign lands doesn't stop here. Next year, Thailand! Go, Chuck, go! The Casbah or as transliterated from Arabic Qasba is specifically the citadel of Algiers and the traditional quarter clustered round it. More generally, kasbah denotes the walled citadel of many North African cities and towns. Wikipedia Do you know someone who has taken GITC to new places? Please let us know by emailing jess.gitc@sbcglobal.net

GITC at NAMM '09

The NAMM Show in Anaheim, California brought GITC faculty and directors together with our phenomenally supportive friends. mentors, and sponsors this January. The NAMM Foundation treated grantees to an informative luncheon where Mark Slavkin, Director of the Los Angeles Music Center advocated for his "Shared Delivery" model of music education, and the four days that followed were just as inspirational to GITC's growth and development.

Pictured left to right: Liliana Urosevic, Jessica Baron, Marion Davison, Moriah Harris-Rodger

GCMF Executive Director, Moriah Harris-Rodger is pictured here, far right, at the recent NAMM show in Anaheim, Calfornia where she met with GITC Executive Director, Jessica Baron and GITC-Victorville program coordinator Marion Davison as well as GITC and GCMF partner, Liliana Urosevic from SAGA Musical Instruments.

GITC thanks the The Guitar Center Music Foundation!

The Guitar Center Music Foundation (GCMF) provides financial and in-kind resources for music programs across America. Guitars in the Classroom has been fortunate for the past three years to receive support from this wonderful charity. This year the GCMF generously donated Samick Goldrush guitars for our AMIGO PROGRAM pilots in California making music possible for teachers of English Language Learners!

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus visits GITC in Victorville, CA

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus pulled into the parking lot of Hook Jr. High School in Victorville, California on March 10 and GITC was there to coordinate the event. GITC program coordinator/instructor and board member Marion Davison (pictured above), a classroom teacher in that district with over 20 years of experience had been working closely with the bus tour staff for several weeks to make this exciting day for the students and teachers a reality. Eric, Doug and Tyler ran the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus that day, and Marion reports that they did a fantastic job.

Two parent volunteers and Marion spent their time just outside the bus, in the tent setup, with the kids who were waiting for their tour or waiting for their group to be done. While they waited, they could play a real guitar or bass, get a goodie bag, or play Rock Band 2. They had a big screen TV, and a Rock Band 2 set up with two "guitars", a drum kit and a mike. The kids were playing the game, while Marion played along on the real guitar.

"I am so glad that the kids I am teaching will be able to continue and advance their guitar skills when they get to Jr. High!" says Marion who reports that Hook recently made a major investment in their music program and equipment.

The Truth about Music in our Schools

In 2003-04, the number of baccalaureate degrees awarded in music education was 3,766 while the number of music teachers who leave the workforce annually has been estimated at 11,000 (Higher Education Arts Data Services).

GITC helps general classroom teachers make sure the music is alive and well in their own classrooms by leading group singing and using song-based instruction to enrich learning and boost student engagement and success in all subject areas.

Year Four of the No Child Left Behind Act finds that 44% of districts cut time on science, social studies, art and music, physical education, lunch, or recess (Center on Education Policy, 2007 report).

GITC restores music to classrooms with community support and without burdening school budgets. This approach completely avoids the "red tape."

In New York City there was one music teacher for every 1,200 students in 2006 (NY Times, 12/25/07).

When classroom teachers train with GITC, every classroom with a trained teacher makes music on an average of two to three times per week. That is a ratio of 1 teacher to 20 K-2 students, and 1 teacher to 34 students in grades 3-8.

75% of after-school programs operated at or above maximum capacity. 87% of respondents say that children in their community say that children in their community who need after-school programs don't have access to them (After-school Alliance, 2007).

GITC creates after-school guitar programs as a natural result of training teachers to facilitate music with guitar. Many GITC-trained teachers start after school music clubs as an extension of their existing commitment to teaching- at no extra charge to the schools.

The connection between musical engagement and success in school and work look promising and bears more investigation:

Schools with music programs have significantly higher graduation rates than those without programs -- 90.2% as compared to 72.9% (Harris poll of high school principals, 2006).

Nearly nine in ten people (88%) with post-graduate degrees participated in music education. Further, 83% of those with incomes of $150,000 or more participated in music (2007 Harris Poll).

Participation in music helps students build life skills and stay in school:

For at-risk youth, the arts contribute to lower recidivism rates; increased self-esteem; the acquisition of job skills; and the development of much needed creative thinking, problem solving and communications skills (Impact of Arts Ed, on Workforce Prep., 2002, NGA).

In a decade-long study of after school programs-sports/academic, community service, and the arts-youth were doing better in school and in their personal lives than were young people from similar socio-economic backgrounds not in such programs. Those enrolled in arts programs did the best (Shirley Brice Heath, AEP, 2002).

GITC thanks the Music National Service Initiative for sharing its data online. Guitars in the Classroom believes that MNSi holds great potential for bringing music instruction to more American students. For more information on this exciting new project, please visit http://www.musicnationalservice.org/

Thank you for your continued interest and involvement with GITC. See you in the next edition of the Newsletter!

Sincerely,

Nick Sinutko
Guitars In The Classroom