Infuse U.S. Classrooms with Music for Learning!

Dear Supporter,

It's only April and thanks to you, Guitars in the Classroom already has so much to celebrate in 2018! Your generosity and enthusiasm for our musical mission has made it possible for GITC to fund brand new programs in California and Kansas, as well as direct more resources toward our students with special needs and the educators who serve them.

California

GITC Trainer, Quinn Fitzpatrick completed a 6 week training for teachers in Oakland Unified School District in March, and also coached our newer programs in Elk Grove, CA (near Sacramento) and traveled way up to Weed, CA, a small town located near Mt. Shasta. Elk Grove is an economically struggling district with no formal music education programs. Our work there is getting things rolling right away for teachers and students while aiming to cultivate a ground swell of support within their district for more music education. The program in Weed is very special with 100% of the faculty members- and the principal- participating in class every week! Quinn was able to visit indivudual classrooms to coach the teachers in implementing hands-on ukulele, singing and songwriting with confidence. Thank you for your support of these northerly efforts.

Down south, Dan Decker, just concluded a beginning class for teachers brand new to GITC at Green Elementary in San Diego Unified School District. They were incredibly enthusiastic and wanted to transition from ukes to guitars right away! Thanks to a generous donation from the Godin Guitar Company, we were able to put beautiful guitars in all of these teachers' hands (see the photo). We know that these self-motivated educators will continue to infuse music into their classrooms for years to come and hope many will join us at camp this summer for three days of intensive instruction.

Kansas

Kanas is brand new territory for GITC. We have long hoped to grow our midwestern programs! When Amanda Johnson who originally taught with GITC in Los Angeles, moved to Kansas recently, she asked to take GITC along. Thanks to her strong, focused and steady efforts, she has now successfully acquainted 2 communities unfamiliar with music integration with our charity and launched new programs in both Kansas City and Olathe, KS. Amanda has done a phenomenal job of making connections in her new neighbohood and getting the word out about our free programs. Teachers are thrilled to be attending her after school and Saturday trainings. They are already using music to helps students with academic skills and concepts like phonics and patterns.

Amanda's first workshop in Olathe, Missouri last weekend was a huge success. Another workshop is scheduled for this weekend, and so many teachers have signed up that there is a waiting list! We'll be opening up a new date to make sure everyone who wants to has a chance to learn and get a free ukulele to take back to the classroom with them. A fun surprise in Olathe has been having a large number of public school librarians attend the training. Librarians at the high school level plan to use ukuleles to help their students meet a graduation requirement where they work with younger students.

Special Education

Many of you have contributed to one or more of our campaigns to create musical access for students with special needs. Thank you so much. It is soley because of your donations on GlobalGiving.org that we have been able to make wonderful headway for special learners! You can contribute to that cause right here: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/special-learners-deserve-music-too/

Guitars in the Classroom is excited to announce that we will be hosting our first conference this summer in Carlsbad, CA, hosted by the NAMM Foundation. The Special Ed Adaptive Music Conference is a free 2-day opportunity for teachers working with students with special needs. Classes in adaptive drumming, strumming and singing, and using music technology will address methods and tools that make music accessible for ALL students. We are thrilled to be able to bring in presenters with expertise in BEAMZ interactive technology and REMO comfort sound technology, as well as teachers from our Sped Learning Lab together to share best practices for bringing music in to special education classrooms. If you know a special educator who might want to attend, they can learn more at our website!

Guitars in the Classroom wouldn't be celebrating any of these accomplishments without your generous donations. Thank you for investing in us and in the teachers and students we champion! Together we are making the world and our schools better places for our youngest and future generations.

With immense gratitude for your loyal support,

Jess Baron

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