Infuse U.S. Classrooms with Music for Learning!

Happy Thanksgiving, Friends,

All of us working and volunteering with Guitars in the Classroom want to thank you for your solidarity, charity, engagement and concern for the workd. Thanks for taking action and creating change. Your efforts with Guitars in the Classroom have been empowering us to bring more musical opportunities to children and youth around the nation. Together we are improving the quality of learning, improving student participation and giving our children and youth the keys to creativity!

Here is a quick peek at the latest developments your giving is making possible. This fall we have been launching new classes from Burlington, Vermont, Brooklyn, NY and Worcester, Massachusetts clear across the country to Longmont, Colorado and Lemon Grove, California. Teachers at every grade level and with every specialization are bringing music into their classrooms! More teachers are giving students hands-on opportunities to strum ukuleles and guitars while the classrooms sings their songs for learning than ever before- and best of all, teachers who started training with us a year or more ago are continuing! For teachers who have never played before (73%), sticking with the learning process takes time, dedication and passion but the pay-off is so important.

It's particularly exciting that more teachers in high poverty schools, rural schools and more special educators have been joining the ranks of GITC. In San Diego alone, 20% of our teachers in training are working with special needs groups including children who have moderate to severe disabilities, autism, physical handicaps and who have suffered trauma. Music knows no boundaries. It touches and unites every heart. Giving teachers the training, tools, materials and encouragement to lead and adapt music for total inclusion is what we are committed to doing in the new year.

Our work is in hundreds of schools around the country, but let's take a minute to focus on one: Dewey Elementary. Dewey's GITC program is growing this fall! Dewey serves approximately 65% military dependents whose parents rank is E6 and below.  73% of their families qualify for Free and Reduced Lunch . Their students move an average of every 2.9 years and 13% of their students receive special education due to us being so close to Balboa Naval Hospital. Children with profound medical challenges whose parents serve in the military are likely to go to school at Dewey. Just last week thanks to you, we were able to deliver new sets of ukuleles to all the participating GITC faculty members so every child in their classrooms can strum and sing to learn, weekly! Teachers Kim Smith, Katie Stoesz, Melanie Billingsley and Jerry Savin are leading the way and we are looking forward to bringing 5 more Dewey teachers into the program this winter.

And now we have added a new program working with San Diego County's Juvenille Court Schools for teen students who have been incarcerated or expelled from regular schools. With your support, these young people are discovering that they have music inside them- and the patience and passion needed to learn to play guitar. Despite facing unimaginable hardship, cruelty and trauma, we are seeing these students find their smiles, their voices and their dreams. Music given with love and faith has that power. We recently welcomed guitar educator and rocker James Clarkston to our faculty to work directly with these teens and their teachers. The GITC music repertoire is quickly expanding! We'll be looking for more very capable faculty members to join this effort in 2016 thanks to a grant that just arrived from Cox Communication's Cox Care Foundation!

There's so much more to tell but you've got things to do. So please stay tuned in with us on facebook to see the daily good news from the schools that your generosity makes possible! With guitar sponsors, Godin Guitars, Martin Guitars, LAG Guitars (Korg USA) and Oriolo Guitars, Saga Musical Instruments, Goldfish Guitars and Kala Brand Music continuing to place instruments in our hands for the teachers and students, we all have much to be thankful for. Please stay with us during your end-of-year giving. With your participation, we can make this an outstanding 2016 for kids in need around the country.

We sincerely want to thank the great folks at GlobalGiving.org for their service, diligence and good will and for keeping everyone's onling giving experience so safe and enjoyable.

May your table be blessed with the warmth of friendship, an abundance of nourishment and the peace that doing one's best for others always inspires.

Blessings,

Jess

Links:

• Watch a short film about Jessica Baron, GITC Founder