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Summer TRAP Training
We thank the Rich Center for Autism for hosting a summer training program we conducted in July when Stephen Flinn, representing The Rhythmic Arts Project (TRAP), once again traveled to Youngstown, OH to conduct a three-day TRAP training session for CBC. TRAP is the curriculum program we use at the Rich Center and will introduce this fall at the Fairhaven School in Niles, OH.
In his third visit to Youngstown from his home in southern California, Stephen spent three days at the Rich Center training two new TRAP facilitators, Annie Cosmides & Jon Dean, and refreshing and upgrading Samantha Russo's initial training. During this training session several groups of Rich Center students had an opportunity to engage the TRAP curriculum, and they all seemed to enjoy themselves.
CreativeBridge is grateful to the TRAP organization (and its founder, Eddie Tuduri) for making Stephen available for these training sessions. We continue to be impressed with TRAP's rigorous requirements for initial training and ongoing professional development of its representatives.
 | | Stephen Flinn at work with Jon, Annie & Sam |
 | | Jon pondering |
 | | Annie practicing |
 | The Crew
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| The Wellendorf Factor
Early on, CBC was pretty much a "learn-as-you-go" operation, with Bill & Dan doing their best to follow a dream they had to connect music with kids. Linda Wellendorf eventually convinced them to get involved with the "Pepsi Challenge" fundraising event. Life at CBC has improved consistently since then!
Linda knew Bill Bodine from their days together at Wilson High School in Younstown, OH. Their reunion as old friends made it easier for her to welcome Dan Marshall into the mix - and their working trio has grown from there. Linda has become a close, highly valued CBC colleague who now orchestrates and oversees our Mahoning Valley office and current projects at the Rich Center for Autism and The Fairhaven School.
We are thrilled to have Linda Wellendorf as a partner in our CreativeBridge Coalition enterprise. For those of you who don't know Linda, you can check out her bio at Who We Are
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Website Overhaul
We are happy to report that our website overhaul is progressing nicely with an anticipated launch later this fall.
We continue to work closely with our wonderful PR firm, The Clearpoint Agency, along with the beloved Sandie Bero of Molo Creative, to keep this project on schedule.
You are going to love our new look! Stay tuned......
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Greetings!
Where has summer gone? It's officially fall, and we're gearing up for one of the busiest seasons on record here at CreativeBridge Coalition. Please read on as we update you on what's been happening in CBC-Land.
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Mahoning Valley, OH
All of our current Count Me In projects are scheduled for a school year (i.e., September-May), and this year we've grown!
The Rich Center for Autism
Thanks to 100% donor renewals plus new funding received this summer (see below), we will return to The Rich Center for Autism, on the Youngstown State University campus, for our second year. Many thanks to Georgia Backus, Renee McConnell & Casey Annico for their continued support and enthusiasm, as well as the parents and students from last year's group for their open enthusiasm toward the program.
The Fairhaven School
This fall we're proud to announce the addition of The Fairhaven School in Niles to the CBC Count Me In family. Thanks to superintendent Edward Stark and principal Rosanne Morrell, along with our grantees, for enabling us to bring music to kids at Fairhaven. Our new CBC facilitator, Jon Dean, will present twice-weekly sessions at both sites.
 | | Ed Stark, Dan , Rosanne Morrell & Linda. |
 | | Fairhaven TRAP class |
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Lanterman High School
We're quite proud to be returning to Lanterman High School for a third consecutive year with our Count Me In project. We're grateful to our continuing funders and the school principal, Christina Cisneros, along with a growing number of former students and their parents/guardians, for their strong endorsement of our efforts at Lanterman.
Vista Del Mar
Following a successful 14-week pilot project with a new music curriculum called Contemporary Urban Percussion (CUP) this past spring, we'll be returning to Vista Del Mar for the coming school year this fall. CUP is a single-semester program, so we'll be working with two different student groups at the Vista School - one fall, one spring. Our star LA facilitator and creator of the CUP program, Stephen Flinn, will represent us at both LA locations.
Thanks to Dr. Louis Josephson, Scott Decker & Felecia Scott at Vista Del Mar for their interest and support in bringing the CUP curriculum to their location.
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We'd like to introduce Jon Dean, who will be teaching for us during the 2013-2014 school year at The Rich Center for Autism and The Fairhaven School. Jon will replace our beloved and talented Samantha Russo, who has left us to pursue her new career as a surgical nurse.
 | | Jon Dean |
Jon has been teaching, writing, performing, and recording music for a number of years. He recently graduated from Youngstown State University (OH) with a degree in Chemistry. Jon has a great passion for the arts, sciences, and teaching, and aspires to pursue a career in the Neurosciences while never losing his love of playing and sharing the gift of music. In addition to his work with CBC, Jon teaches guitar at Motter's Music in Canfield, OH, helps run Don't Touch That Studio in Boardman, OH, and serves as a Teaching Assistant for the Department of Chemistry at YSU.
Welcome to the CBC family, Jon!
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We're excited to announce several new and renewed grants received by CreativeBridge for the 2013-2014 school year.
Toward our Ohio work, we've been awarded a substantial grant from the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley ( CFMV) . The CFMV is a public charity that benefits donors and nonprofit partners, while encouraging collaborative community efforts across Mahoning and Trumbull Counties. We are also pleased to announce that Millwood, Inc. will renew their generous funding for CBC's efforts in the Mahoning Valley for another year. Millwood is a provider of pallets and innovative unit load and industrial packaging products, systems and services. These grants, along with continuing support from Rick Blasé ( Rick's Ranchwear), Jim & Sandy DeVicchio (Belleria Boardman), Dan Turner (Samuel Stamping) and many Mahoning Valley individuals, allow us to continue our work at The Rich Center for Autism in Youngstown, OH for a second year, and introduce our Count Me In project to The Fairhaven School in Niles, OH.
Out West, we received grants totaling $10,000 to benefit the expansion of our Los Angeles, CA effort to bring the Contemporary Urban Percussion (CUP) program to students at Vista Del Mar ( Vista School) in the coming school year. Our new grant comes from the Crail-Johnson Foundation ( Crail-Johnson Fnd) which promotes the wellbeing of children in need by supporting organizations and projects that serve to improve children's immediate and future quality of life. Our renewal grant for bringing CUP to Vista Del Mar comes from The Seattle Foundation ( Seattle Fnd), a community organization that fosters philanthropy, driving positive change on local issues by working side by side with donors. This is the second consecutive year that CBC has been awarded funding from the foundation.
As our project at Lanterman High School in Los Angeles begins its third year, we're pleased to announce an increase in our continued funding from the Rags for Riches Foundation (Rags for Riches). Rags for Riches is a non-profit that has been funding organizations serving special needs kids for 28 years. This is our third year of funding support from this foundation.
Last, but certainly not least, we again thank our first and most supportive funder, The Rochelle and Richard Maize Foundation. The Maize Foundation, a philanthropic organization that supports and contributes volunteer and financial resources to causes locally in the community and worldwide by supporting meaningful programs focusing on art, culture, family services and health care that work to help people live more fulfilling lives, believed in CBC's mission from day one. We remain genuinely grateful for their loyalty and friendship. Thanks Rich and Rochelle!
We would also like to acknowledge a number of individuals who provide valued annual gifts to CBC to support our California and Ohio projects. We couldn't continue to grow without your support.
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In addition to the above newsworthy items, we continue to field calls from and consult with several organizations across the country interested in music-based educational programs to serve their various populations. We'll keep you posted on those developments as they unfold. Between Newsletter updates, visit our website to stay abreast of breaking news ( News).
CBC has had a banner year thus far securing funds for the various projects we have in place. In order to grow, however, we can never lose sight of the need to develop new funding relationships with foundations, companies and individuals. We are currently brainstorming several unique fundraising events for the year ahead, and, as always, remain grateful for the support of friends like you.
Feel free to help us grow our fan and donor base by forwarding this Newsletter to anyone you feel may be interested in supporting our mission to help music find children. We also invite you to visit our Facebook page regularly, "like" us if you aren't already a friend, and encourage your Facebook friends to do the same!
Enjoy the fall. We'll visit you again before year's end!
Bill Bodine
Dan Marshall
Linda Wellendorf
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