We are so excited to partner with Youth Empowerment Through Arts And Humanities, Inc. (YEAH!) this year to provide music education to our CASE afterschool students at Donelson Middle School. Our students had the privilege of learning the basics of playing the ukulele and songwriting from a professional musician and singer-songwriter.
Students each practiced with a ukulele and learned basic chords. Then students were taught about different elements of songwriting and were divided into groups to write original songs together. Finally, students were given the opportunity to perform in front of the classmates, family, and friends. At the end of their session with our youth, YEAH surprised them with the news that each of them would get to keep their ukuleles and continue practicing and learning these instruments on their own! Our students were beyond thrilled.
We are thankful for the opportunities students had to develop in their musical abilities, but also to see their increase in confidence and self-worth. See below just a sampling of the positive feedback we heard from youth about their experience.
“My favorite activity was learning ukulele because it’s been my dream to play one.”
“The music…it’s like you can feel it and songwriting is about your feelings and life.”
“It was a fun activity for me to show my feelings to other students.”
“Singing in front of other students makes me feel amazing and practicing makes me better.”
“I loved writing our own songs, it offered a chance to express our creativity.”
“When I played in front of my peers, I felt confident.”
We are so grateful for the time, care, and energy YEAH poured into our youth. We look forward to continuing to partner with them and cannot wait to hear our students perform what they have learned at their end of the year performance.
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