By Katie Moskovciak | Development & PR Manager
McKinley K-8 School of Integrated Arts 7th Grader Isaac was spotlighted on the TODAY Show in November featuring ETM-LA. According to Isaac, he was failing school with four F’s across his classes, while also dealing with anxiety “because school can be kind of stressful.” Isaac struggled with expressing his feelings, especially when dealing with anger. His mother confided, “When Isaac was just 1 & 1/2 years of age, his father was incarcerated. And over the years, this seemed to trigger his emotions and anger.”
Isaac added, “I would be emotional and sometimes I would take it out on the wrong people. But when I’m doing music it calms me down, and it helped, so that hasn’t happened in a long time. Music has changed my life in many ways.”
Learning music regularly in school continues to generate positive outcomes for Isaac. Not only does he participate in weekly classes, but Isaac also joined the Rock Band and plays piano and guitar. On the TODAY Show, he talked about how his Rock Band and music class have changed his life. He loves to listen to Pop and Latin music with his family to relax and enjoy their time together. Isaac has found motivation in something he loves and is now receiving “straight A’s.”
“[Music’s] made my anxiety better, because school’s kind of stressful. I had like 4 F’s…[now they’re] straight A’s.”
“Music is really a huge part of his life, as it is with all of us. I do see that music has, and does, help my son. Isaac enjoys coming home and sharing his experience of the different instruments and friends he has made in music,” Isaac’s mother stated.
ETM-LA is unwavering in its mission of working alongside low-income area schools and ensuring equity and access to quality music education in these challenging times, when the joy of music is needed more than ever before. Your support will help ETM-LA continue bringing music and all of its benefits to students across Los Angeles County, and help us close the gap for under-resourced schools that remain deprived of yearlong music and arts programs in their core curriculum.
Thank you to those who have generously given to help provide essential music education services to thousands of students like Isaac across Los Angeles County!
ETM-LA provides quality, yearlong, core curriculum music instruction in under-resourced Los Angeles schools as part of the school day for every child. Since its founding in 2006, ETM-LA has grown from 2 schools and 800 students to reaching approximately 21,000 students at 49 schools in 2022.
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By Katie Moskovciak | Development & PR Manager
By Katie Boone | Communications Associate
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