Arts Access

Our goal under this outcome was to build formal relationships with social service, juvenile justice, and law enforcement agencies to involve at-risk youth in music programs. We have achieved this outcome by forming a coalition with representatives of the above agencies and other groups in town, such as the Boys and Girls Club and the Healthy Communities Collaborative. Members of these groups have participated in our meetings and have provided input. We have also identified 51 different at risk youth who have participated in our lessons and groups. There were some students who did not choose to follow the attendance and participation requirements and left the program but the great majority met basic requirements of attendance and practice. Many showed distinct attitude changes for the better. We used basic measurements of students identified and progress of each student. Attitude changes were measured by teacher evaluation. 2: Our goal in this outcome was: Youth that feel that music is not an option for them due to financial concerns, lack of family support and/or self-worth will participate in music. As mentioned about, we identified 51 at risk youth who came to our Music Center, took weekly lessons and participated in any group activities. The great majority of these students had not participated in music prior to this. 38 of the students are still actively involved in music lessons. Of the 12 remaining students, 5 did not choose to participate beyond a few weeks, and 7 had other factors out of our control (transportation, change in foster family, and issues with the law.) The teachers who taught these students and the agencies that referred the students to us all view the program as a success. We do take students who are not referred by an agency as well, who have risk factors.