We would like to offer scholarship assistance to a greater number of teens who could not otherwise afford tuition, so that they will have the the opportunity to participate in Plugged In and reap the benefits of music education, learning about philanthropy and belonging to a community of young musicians.
In 2002, Plugged In started with 5 students. Currently, we have 95 students, and our enrollment continues to increase every session. Soon, we will outgrow our one room location. Our goal is to have a building with two ensemble classrooms, private lesson rooms, a recording studio, a performance space, and a workshop space. This building will serve as a community center for teen musicians, where they can take private lessons, participate in ensemble classes, learn about music technology, participate in songwriting workshops, hold performances and record their music. The community center will also serve as a location for weekly weekend evening jam sessions, providing teen musicians a safe, fun and constructive place to be, as well as movie nights, where movies focusing on music, arts and social change will be screened and discussed. For this new and larger location, we will need more musical instruments, as well as recording equipment.
In addition to offering private lessons, music technology and recording classes, our programming goals include a class on creating a Public Service Announcement (PSA). This PSA class, offered each session, will provide young musicians, as well as those who do not play music, an opportunity to create a short video about the charitable organization chosen by the students to be the beneficiary of the end of session concert. Students will learn about concept development and writing for a PSA, as well as how to shoot and edit video. Students will also write music for the PSA. Other programing goals include a mentoring program through which older students will mentor and teach younger ones, as well as a program through which older Plugged In students will provide private music lessons to youth who are not Plugged In students, focusing on those children who can’t afford music lessons. We also would like to develop programming to meet the needs of our older students, which will focus more on song-writing, recording, music business and job shadowing of adults working in the music industry, especially those who involve social consciousness in their careers. Lastly, we hope to have a program for kids ages 5-10, introducing them to music and preparing them for Plugged In programming for older students.
Since 2006, Plugged In has invited bands from Zimbabwe to participate in a cross-cultural program with Plugged In students. Students have participated in a number of workshops with the band, through which they have learned about Zimbabwean music, dance, culture and history and have, as a result, gained a broader global understanding. Students have loved this program and continue to ask for more opportunities to meet and learn from musicians around the world. Our goal is to plan annual trips to countries around the world, where students will connect with musicians of all ages and learn about different instruments, culture and styles of music, and, especially, about how others around the world are using music for positive change.
One of the most important aspects of Plugged In in the opportunity for students to learn about using music to help others. We find that the philanthropic aspect of Plugged In has a far-reaching effect on the program. In each session, students choose a charitable organization for which their final concert will raise money. This process has a unique way of accessing compassion in the students, which has a profound effect on the atmosphere at Plugged In. Students feel safe being kind and helpful to each other, which creates an environment where they feel comfortable taking risks. The end result is that students gain self-confidence and trust in themselves and others. Plugged In provides an opportunity for teenagers to give back and learn how great it feels to help others. We find that after participating in Plugged In, the act of giving back becomes part of who they are. Many students begin to incorporate involve charitable work in their daily lives, such as organizing concerts, helping their peers and/or raising money for causes that are important to them. Our goal is to develop programming that will provide deeper involvement by the students in the charitable organizations they choose to support at their concerts, as well as in other areas of philanthropy, in general.
We are constantly being told by students, parents and people interested in Plugged In that they would like us to offer both day and overnight summer camps. The summer program will offer similar programming as our fall and spring sessions, including ensemble classes, a concert benefitting a charitable organization chosen by the students, song-writing and recording classes, and an opportunity to learn about how people around the world are using music for positive change.
