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Q: What is Making Music Matters?
A: We are a teen volunteer-driven organization that provides after school music programs to St. Louis inner city schools that are unable to create their own. We believe that music is an integral aspect of education and shouldn’t be neglected. While our project doesn’t cross international borders, it reaches deep into the heart of the United States towards the inner city schools.
Q.: How did Making Music Matters begin?
A.: “My friend Simone Bernstein and I co-founded MMM in the summer of 2010. The United Way of Greater St. Louis was looking for after school enrichment programs for Stevens Middle School. Since the school didn't have an orchestra program, we proposed a teen volunteer-driven violin class. Once our application was accepted, we created a curriculum based off the Essential Elements for Strings Series.“
Q.: You’re a busy college student. What motivated you to get involved in the public schools?
A.: “The community need is to improve the overall musical educational experience of students at the St. Louis Public Schools. High school and college instructors from other schools are fortunate to be able to have a musical education.”
“Recent studies show that students who take part in the arts are more successful on standardized tests such as the MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) and achieve higher grades in school. Only 10% of students in seventh grade at pilot school Stevens Middle School scored at or above proficient in Communication Arts on the MAP in 2009, in contrast with the state average of 51%. A 2004 Stanford University study showed that mastering a musical instrument improves the way the human brain processes parts of spoken language. A report in 2006 by Collegeboard states that students of music continue to outperform their non-arts peers on the SAT.”
Q.: How has the community reacted to the program?
A.: Shana Renshaw, Community Collaborative Specialist at Stevens Middle School, comments: “Many are finding the desire to cultivate this new-found talent. Most have had little instrumental music exposure and no exposure to the violin prior to this experience. The students are very receptive and interested. They continually express concern about access to their instruments and when class is going to be held. Many times they rush the instructors as soon as they arrive before giving them a chance to set up.”
Cheryl Polk, United Way of Greater St. Louis Chief Operating Officer, has words of praise for the work Ken is doing: "Ken has done a phenomenal job getting the orchestra together and getting donations from the community."
Q: How many volunteers do you have?
A.: “We have a total of 8 volunteers working to enhance the program. We are now in a phase of aggressive expansion. By the beginning of next school year, we plan to establish our program at another city school. We will also add a new classical guitar program next semester.
Q.: Where did you find your “teen teachers”?
A.: “I reached out to various teens in St. Louis whom I knew were passionate and talented violinists. I also recruited teachers through youth orchestras throughout the area. Through social media sites like Twitter, Simone reaches out to other agencies to spread awareness about MMM and to recruit teen volunteers.
Q.: How many students are impacted by this program?
A.: “We have a total of 15 students taking violin lessons in our after school program.”
Q: How often do you go to the schools?
A: A group of talented teenage violin instructors go to an inner city school to teach violin for an hour every week.
Q.: Do you have enough volunteer teachers for the number of students who want to study violin? or do you need more volunteers?
A.: “Since our group of students is expanding, we are also looking for experienced and skilled high school and college violin instructors in the St. Louis area. We are looking to expand the program to other schools and create a summer music opportunity. We also hope to start an acoustic guitar class next semester.”
A: We are a teen volunteer-driven organization that provides after school music programs to St. Louis inner city schools that are unable to create their own. We believe that music is an integral aspect of education and shouldn’t be neglected. While our project doesn’t cross international borders, it reaches deep into the heart of the United States towards the inner city schools.
Q.: How did Making Music Matters begin?
A.: “My friend Simone Bernstein and I co-founded MMM in the summer of 2010. The United Way of Greater St. Louis was looking for after school enrichment programs for Stevens Middle School. Since the school didn't have an orchestra program, we proposed a teen volunteer-driven violin class. Once our application was accepted, we created a curriculum based off the Essential Elements for Strings Series.“
Q.: You’re a busy college student. What motivated you to get involved in the public schools?
A.: “The community need is to improve the overall musical educational experience of students at the St. Louis Public Schools. High school and college instructors from other schools are fortunate to be able to have a musical education.”
“Recent studies show that students who take part in the arts are more successful on standardized tests such as the MAP (Missouri Assessment Program) and achieve higher grades in school. Only 10% of students in seventh grade at pilot school Stevens Middle School scored at or above proficient in Communication Arts on the MAP in 2009, in contrast with the state average of 51%. A 2004 Stanford University study showed that mastering a musical instrument improves the way the human brain processes parts of spoken language. A report in 2006 by Collegeboard states that students of music continue to outperform their non-arts peers on the SAT.”
Q.: How has the community reacted to the program?
A.: Shana Renshaw, Community Collaborative Specialist at Stevens Middle School, comments: “Many are finding the desire to cultivate this new-found talent. Most have had little instrumental music exposure and no exposure to the violin prior to this experience. The students are very receptive and interested. They continually express concern about access to their instruments and when class is going to be held. Many times they rush the instructors as soon as they arrive before giving them a chance to set up.”
Cheryl Polk, United Way of Greater St. Louis Chief Operating Officer, has words of praise for the work Ken is doing: "Ken has done a phenomenal job getting the orchestra together and getting donations from the community."
Q: How many volunteers do you have?
A.: “We have a total of 8 volunteers working to enhance the program. We are now in a phase of aggressive expansion. By the beginning of next school year, we plan to establish our program at another city school. We will also add a new classical guitar program next semester.
Q.: Where did you find your “teen teachers”?
A.: “I reached out to various teens in St. Louis whom I knew were passionate and talented violinists. I also recruited teachers through youth orchestras throughout the area. Through social media sites like Twitter, Simone reaches out to other agencies to spread awareness about MMM and to recruit teen volunteers.
Q.: How many students are impacted by this program?
A.: “We have a total of 15 students taking violin lessons in our after school program.”
Q: How often do you go to the schools?
A: A group of talented teenage violin instructors go to an inner city school to teach violin for an hour every week.
Q.: Do you have enough volunteer teachers for the number of students who want to study violin? or do you need more volunteers?
A.: “Since our group of students is expanding, we are also looking for experienced and skilled high school and college violin instructors in the St. Louis area. We are looking to expand the program to other schools and create a summer music opportunity. We also hope to start an acoustic guitar class next semester.”