He was the kid that teachers dread having in their classroom. He was big for his age and had been held back a year. He knew exactly what he was supposed to be doing during class…and he took great joy in doing the opposite. He was always in trouble, both in his classroom and in the music room. Needless to say, when instruments got passed out in music class, Jared did not get to play.
Then one day the teacher told the class, “I have a really fun passing game we will play with the bells and the song we have been learning. I am looking now for the students who will get to participate.” For whatever reason, that day Jared decided that he wanted to play the game and get to pass the bells. He listened, sang, followed directions…and FINALLY he got to play!
That day after class, the music teacher gave him a note to take to his mom telling her, what Jared had done that day. The next week, Jared's classroom teacher asked the Music teacher “What did you do with Jared? This week he has been listening, participating…he even turned in his homework!” From that point on, music was Jared's favorite class. And his grades came up. Music had gotten him back involved and excited about school.
There are 100's of “Jared’s” in our schools. Kids just waiting to find that something that will get them excited about learning, help them to make connections and stimulate their creativity.
The M.U.S.I.C. Foundation was created to meet this need. M.U.S.I.C. stands for Music Unlocks Success In Children, and really, that says it all.
We have two primary objectives. The first is to teach music as a discipline – a once weekly class integrated with the school curriculum. The second is that every child is served, not just the ones who can afford to take lessons outside of school because we have seen that when children study music, they advance in all their subjects.
