By Jessica Baron | Executive Director
Dear Friend,
Thank you for joining me in caring about students with special needs. Your charitable gift in the past has helped us continue our work adapting musical experiences so that any student may participate. This is so important and positive for the students and their families, too. Access is critical and joy is contagious!
Today I bring you some encouraging news. We were just asked to participate with our sponsors at Korg USA in training chapter leaders for the Special Olympics in the GITC approach in Phoenix, AZ on December 2. The idea here is to create a pilot program that empowers and equips those leaders to bring strumming and singing back to the participants in their local groups. Together we will create ways that making music and composing positive song lyrics can support the process of practice, goal setting, striving for and achieving ones personal best, overcoming limitations, working together, and keeping the faith!
Our hope is that these leaders will leave the day-long training ready to strum and sing with their special olympiads- and will be ready to learn MORE! GITC instructor for the Phoenix area, Gerry de la Torre will head up this first workshop and offer follow up classes, too. We'll keep you posted about the progress of this promising project as it evolves. Hopefully someday, the Special Olympics will include lots of high spirited singing, strumming and celebrating through the power of music.
Did you know that P.E. teachers love GITC and use it to teach sports and sportsmanship? Please read about "Coach," a beloved teacher at Fay Elementary in City Heights, California. We interviewed him last school year because he strums and sings with his students every day as part of the Physical Education program. You'll find the blog about him on our website homepage at guitarsintheclassroom.org.
If you know someone participating in the Special Olympics who might want to know about our new endeavor, please feel free to share our contact information. As you well know, every person counts and it only takes one person to make a difference for many others.
Thanks for being a part of GITC! If you'd like to keep helping, I hope you will mark your calendar for Giving Tuesday on November 28th when we will be featuring this project!
Wishing you health, resilience, faith and peace,
Jess
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