By Jess Baron | Executive Director
Dear Friend,
We have a great story to report!
As you know, early childhood educators work long hours for meager pay. They must show up for the children in their care in order to build trust and knowledge. The workday is demanding, and there are so few opportunities to receive professional development. But our model and this program are making a difference for the teachers by reducing barriers to participation, including improving the proximity of training, and by funding instruments so children can begin to participate in playing an instrument.
With the cost of gas just under $5 per gallon, and the time it takes to travel by bus being easily twice the drive time, placing programs around the county in accessible locations is helping more educators participate in regular training by saving them precious time and dollars. Now many are finding their way to learning to make and lead music for young children. For the early childhood educators who drive over an hour each way to get to and from training, making this shift to remote training is imperative in the current economy.
Providing free instruments is also critical to everyone's success. Learning to lead is 3/4 or the process and getting ukuleles and adaptive supplies to help little hands play is the final step!
Centers can barely cover basic supplies. Instruments are expensive. So this grant is a part of the solution. With help from CECO, children in hard to reach neighborhoods are receiving musical beginnings with their everyday teachers and care providers.
This September, after a year of correspondences and meetings, GITC was finally able to begin training early childhood educators in person at Southwestern Community College (SWC) in Chula Vista, having been approved by their board of trustees. This border-region college is accessible and affordable for students in financial need, and in addition, it serves as a community hub. SWC’s Child, Family and Education Studies program and their amazing Childhood Development Center have been hosting our weekly classes taught by GITC teaching artist Julia Cole on a grant from the California Arts Council. The grant included wages but not instruments. We raised individual donations to supply all participating teachers with their own Waterman ukuleles. Next they need class sets, just like the ones requested in this grant, and we received a donation to help bring ukes to them next week when they graduate.
The SWC class filled quickly, and the immediately positive impact in participating teachers’ classrooms has been shared weekly. The teachers report children are happier, more focused, cooperative, and brave in sharing their thoughts and feelings. In fact, SWC CDC teacher Jeannine Venegas just appeared with our founder, Jess Baron in an interview on Spotlight on the Community, sharing about music’s impact on her students.
2 weeks after starting the ECE music leadership course at SWC, GITC also launched a 10 hour course through the San DIego County Office of Education (SDCOE), located in Linda Vista. 37 Early childhood educators serving from San Ysidro, Imperial Beach, Chula Vista, and National City in the south to Ramona, San Marcos, Vista, and Oceanside in the north registered.
We announced the SWC class during the final SDCOE workshop, and a number of teachers from the southern region requested permission to immediately join the SWC class. One week later, they were admitted, and they have been attending every week, ever since. They are all graduating together on Giving Tuesday! Please donate to our campaign today, so each one can be awarded a small set of ukuleles for their students to share! These 23 teachers will reach almost 500 children with music each day.
With your charitable contribution, together we can create a new story of success, of teachers supported, and children’s lives changed through the power of love and music. Thank you for making musical access a reality for thee very deserving kids and teachers. They need our help, and you are an important part of the GITC team!
With appreciation and gratitude,
Jess
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