Shawn Gonzalez, Author at Keeping the Blues Alive

Shawn Gonzalez

Donation of the Week

KTBA in the Final Frontier: Donations in Alaska! napaskiak, ak – Thanks to your donations this week, KTBA has achieved yet another milestone since we started our weekly donations back in 2012! We have officially donated to a school in each of the 50 states, demonstrating our national impact on music education programs everywhere – from Hawaii to Alaska to South Florida and Maine! Maya Angelou once said, “Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.” 4th grade students at Z. John Williams Memorial School will explore the magical world of music through the recorder, finding their own crawl spaces to explore and enjoy. Students are mostly Yup’ik Eskimos living between two worlds: the traditional subsistence life of the rural Alaskan tundra and the modern American life of the Lower 48. Ms. C describes, “our village is only accessible by plane or boat, and has fewer than 400 souls. As a result of cultural disintegration, they are often the innocent victims of generational alcohol abuse, which compounds their otherwise up-hill path to learning a second language (English) and thriving in school. As a result, by the time they are in 3rd grade, they are so far behind in basic academics that they only have three real subjects a day: reading, writing, and math. Subjects like music, history, art, science, and physical education — the very things that make school enjoyable — are dropped from the curriculum. And we wonder why so many Native students drop out? In this milieu, I am able to offer a unique opportunity for students by providing 30 minutes, twice a week, of musical instruction.” By using the donations from this past week, KTBA was able to go in and fund Ms. C’s music project allowing them to purchase new learning materials and recorders for her music curriculum. This particular donation was about more than just recorders and music books. It quickly became about improving the quality of classroom instruction that changes the students’ perspective on their education. When you live in a rather recluse area of the country, there is a great chance that students are not exposed to different cultures and social nuances that we take for granted. “With these materials, my students will be able to make music! Of course, they will learn basic theory, rhythm, pitch, and the technical skills necessary to play recorder, but they will learn so much more. Music provides a safe opportunity to practice and develop many of the soft skills that are lacking in children of lower socioeconomic status. For example, my students will learn the benefit of hard work, practice, and perseverance; they will experience the swelling feeling of pride at a job well done. Hopefully with practice, these soft skills can transfer to other environments, creating generally happier and healthier students. The effects of the positive soft skills acquired through music are difficult to overstate in the lives of rural Native children growing up in a village ravaged by alcohol. The musical skills they gain will serve the students well, too. Many students are interested in composing music for traditional Yup’ik dance, and solid musicianship helps. Additionally, many students will eventually join the church choir, where reading sheet music is a definite boon.” None of this would be possible without small donations from music lovers like you! Thank you for your enduring support of Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation and we are excited for the semester ahead! Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, It is through generous philanthropic work like yours that my students will be able to experience the joys of making music. Thank you!From their first squeaky notes through their end-of-year performance, my students will thoroughly enjoy and use their new recorders, stands, and sheet music. As you well know, music can reach students that otherwise struggle in school, and many of my students fall into this category. Your gift allows them an opportunity to express themselves in ways that don’t hinge on knowing the English language, which is a challenge to learn in our Yup’ik first language community.Thank you again for your generosity. I know my students thank you, too!With gratitude, Ms. C. To make a donation to KTBA, click here!

August 8, 2014

Donation of the Week

Students Take Musical Journey Around the World Thanks to your donations this week, Keeping the Blues a Alive Foundation donated a slew of instruments in Chandler, Arizona! Most of the supplies included a Continents of the World photo book series, a world map, arts and crafts materials including pom poms, feathers, craft sticks, and glitter, in addition to a music around the world CD to make instruments from each of the seven continents of the world. Students will be taken on a journey to the seven continents of the world. While studying the culture of each continent students will create a model that resembles an instrument from each area. The goal of each model will be to produce a sound that is similar to the actual instrument. The school music teacher caters to 20 English language learners who are in the third grade. They are a self-contained class that has a lot of fun learning and playing together. School is a safe place for them to grow as new citizens of this country. They learn cultural etiquette and social paradigms. They learn about collaboration and compromise. Additionally, students are very much challenged by their living conditions at home. Some students are from migrant families. These children are required to help their family make money after school and don’t have time to do anything else. Some students live in trailers with as many as three other families living with them at the same time. Last, most of the students’ parents don’t speak English at home, so they have a hard time helping with homework and school projects. The first social studies unit of the year will be studying the seven continents of the world. They will analyze music, dance, food, clothing and customs of each area. Then the students will bring the lessons to life by creating a model of a musical instrument from each continent. Music provides a unique identity for each continent. Over thousands of years each continent evolved its own unique musical instruments. Students will study the structure of the instruments then create a modern day model. In Europe the students will create bagpipes. In North America students will create maracas. The Cajon will represent South America. Everyone will then create clap sticks from Africa. Next the students will make didgeridoos from Australia. The Dizi flute will represent Asia. Finally skin drums will represent Antarctica. Appreciation of other cultures leads to ultimately understanding our world and the people who populate it. Music is the gateway to connecting and communicating with the world. Students will be changed for the better by understanding that there are dozens of musical styles and instruments to play it. Beyond the music advantages, cultural differences are something to be celebrated. Once students understand this concept a better classroom climate will be created. Thanks to your donations, these students will get to enjoy those cultures and grow and become better citizens because of it. Click here to make a donation to our charity!

August 1, 2014

Donation of the Week

wichita, ks – Students at Bostic Elementary School in Wichita will have an exciting school year this fall! Their love for music class has been blooming more and more throughout the years, and Ms. Barker had done all she could to help them reach their potential. “They enjoy working in small groups on a variety of things; but hands down, the activity they love most is playing instruments! I want to get them actively involved in composing music by using glockenspiels” Ms. Barker explains. Bostic Magnet Elementary School is a Traditional Magnet, meaning that the students wear uniforms, and are expected to work for high standards in discipline and academic achievement. Yes, they are still a part of the local public school system, however they do not hold themselves to the same standards necessarily. The students enjoy coming to Music class, and work hard for reward days, when they get to show off their talent with solo singing, piano, and comedy skits they put together. In order to get the most of their experience while at the school for only a short time, Ms. Barker requested a set of glockenpiels to teach the students rudimental concepts of pitch differentiation, melody, and group songs and activities. “I will use the glockenspiels in centers with worksheets so that students can work independently or in pairs to compose music within set guidelines. Using instruments with letters on the bars (as opposed to say, a guitar) reinforces the musical scale. I want my students to be reminded of the letters as they write the notes on the music staff on their paper. I would ultimately like to put an Orff instrument in the hands of every student in my classroom. (My classes run about 24 each.) When everyone in the room can play at the same time, it makes a HUGE difference in the amount of interest students have in class!” Thanks to your donations this week, Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation funded Ms. Barker’s project, and we still have room for more donations for next week! You can be a part of our journey to fund music education programs by making a small donation! Click here to make a donation to our charity!

July 25, 2014

Donation of the Week

The Composers de Campobello! campobello, sc – Thanks to your donations this week, Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation was able to donate plenty of materials to the students at Campobello-Grambling Elementary School in Campobello, SC! Mrs. Pym, the school’s music instructor, said her students were “excited to create sound stories with picture books and handheld percussion instruments.” They were motivated, engaged learners in this rural SC public school and elementary students come to music class once a week to enjoy integrating music with other subjects they are learning. “I am fortunate to teach in an environment with students that love to learn!” Mrs. Pym added. With the picture books like The Girl Who Heard Colors and There Was a Tree and handheld percussion instruments, her students will be able to compose sound stories. Additionally, they will get to integrate percussion instruments into books, creating their own musical composition. Students will get to perform their sound stories to other students in younger grades. After receiving the funds for her project, Mrs. Pym left us with a little note expressing her gratitude: Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Thank you thank you thank you for your interest our classroom! I am so excited to have handheld percussion instruments that my students can share! This will serve to provide enough instruments so we have an entire class set – no more waiting for your turn! My older students will enjoy composing accompaniments to use with our picture books. This will reinforce our skills of reading and writing music as we work to compose our own pieces. Thank you for giving us the tools we need to continue to be successful! With gratitude, Mrs. Pym We could not do these donations without your help! To make a donation to next week’s project, click here!

July 11, 2014

Donation of the Week

KTBA Donates Sing-Along Music and Books milwaukee, wi – Thanks to your donations this week, Keeping the Blues Alive was able to donate music activities, headphones and accompanying CDs for their music class. Dr Benjamin Carson Academy in Milwaukee is located in a high-poverty zone – often leaving students surrounded by grief and various hardships in their community. Mrs. Miller-Ahmed’s 18 young and budding singers attend the school but because of budget cuts, they had not had a music teacher in many years. “I am not the most beautiful singer but I do try to expose my children to songs and musical experiences. Every day they say “Do we have time for a song?” Mrs. Ahmed pleads. “My hope for these materials is that students will learn new songs that they can sing when they are happy or sad. They can teach them to their families during bus and car rides and eventually to their children. They can be used in whole group lessons to tie into our reading, math, social studies, science and health themes. In addition, students can listen to them on our CD player with headphones. The students will learn rhythm, muscle control, balance, and multiculturalism through these songs.” The project included CDs by Ella Jenkins and Greg & Steve. According to Mrs. Ahmed these students will enjoy singing and learning about the music concepts because with their learning curve being so high at a young age, they are bound to take the necessary steps to grow as a group and apply the lessons to other instruments as well. It was very clear that theses students, although they aren’t in a conventional music class, would benefit from the camaraderie of learning music with their peers! Thanks to your donations, they will have a new perspective on going to their school, and attendance rates will see a significant change! Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Thank you so much for funding our classroom’s project, A School Without a Song. My school truly is a school without a song because of budget cuts. Not having a music teacher is a terrible experience for elementary school students. I try to enrich the students lives the best I can with music. Singing and musical activities always make the students in a much happier mood. They ask me, “When can we sing?” and “At the end of the day, can I pick a song to sing?” The students are desperate for age appropriate music. Your generosity will allow my class to listen to music with the headphones on their own during station activities, learn a wide range of new music from the CDs, and sing songs with props using the Sing And Move Bag. I would not be able to have these wonderful materials for my class without your organization! Thank you for bringing music back to my classroom. With gratitude, Mrs. Miller-Ahmed What a difference, these little donations can make. If you’d like to help us make a difference for music education, please click here to make a donation today!

July 4, 2014

Donation of the Week

Feel The Beat! alexandria, va – Thanks to your donations this week, Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation was able to donate a new set of hand drums to Samuel W Tucker Elementary School in Alexandria, VA! Samuel W Tucker Elementary boasts an incredibly diverse student body, with the majority of them being of african american or hispanic race. The school, having just opened in September of 2000, has many advantages to running a music program including high attendance rates, high graduation rates, and the camaraderie associated with supporting local community events. Mr. Todd Patrick, the newly hired vocal music director at Tucker Elementary was very eager to take on the challenge. Primarily a 3rd grade teacher, he posted some of his projects via DonorsChoose.org to help round out the instrumentation of his ensembles. One of them, required a set of hand drums for the students. Other outside projects allowed him to acquire Orff Instruments for his class, totaling almost $2,000! Mr. Patrick explains, “These hand drums will complete our classroom set of hand drums. I will have 26 hand drums, so that every student can have one when we’re keeping the steady beat and playing rhythms. Hand drums are an integral part of the K-2 curriculum, and they’re a lot of fun in instrument ensembles for 3-5. These hand drums will be used on a daily basis for decades!” Hand drums are very integral in music instruction because since pitch recognition is not necessary, students build a solid and rhythmic foundation for their music education at a young age. With a classroom set of drums, each student is able to participate without needing to share a drum, therefore providing more hands-on time with the lesson. Over the years, music classes have proven to be an intellectual and social advantage to students’ learning abilities. By understanding rhythmic patterns, students are able to spark a learning curve for music concepts as well as the ability to apply these lessons to other core subjects. Thanks to the funding we received last week, Keeping The Blues Alive was able to fund Mr. Patrick’s hand drums! Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Thank you so much for your donation!! This project will complete my classroom set of drums…which are vital for K-2 students to learn to keep a steady beat and to play simple ostinati (repeated patterns). My students will love playing these once the new school year gets underway in August.I really can’t thank you enough for this generous donation. I started this past year with 2 hand drums. Now, thanks to donors like you, I will begin the new year with a classroom set of 25! Enough for every class, K-5 to play! I thank you and my current and future students thank you…we will get years of use out of these drums! With gratitude – Mr. Patrick! To date, we have funded over 14,500 students with music instruments, supplies and instruction. We have funded projects in 49/50 states and sponsored scholarships for college students. If you are a music advocate and wish to help us fund more projects like this, make a donation by clicking here! As always, our mission is to offset the loss of music education programs by funding music projects and scholarships every week. To read more of our success stories, visit keepingthebluesalive.org/donation-stories! Rock on. Like us on Facebook!

June 26, 2014

Feel The Beat! Donation of the Week

June 26, 2014

Donation of the Week

Barlett, IL – Thanks to your donations this week, Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation made a great donation to an elementary classroom. “Only the best is good enough for a child.” – Zoltan Kodaly. This quote is appropriately displayed in Mrs. Kutschke’s classroom, because in her class, the students come first. As a general music and chorus teacher, Mrs. Kutschke has her hands full. “One of my schools has a very large ESL population and half of the students receive free or reduced price breakfast and lunch. Because of the expanding Dual Language program, music class is now held in the teachers’ lounge. Even in the smaller space, the students are very eager to learn, sing, read and write music, do folk dancing, practice drumming, and play Orff instruments,” she explains. Keeping the students actively engaged is a task, but with her new IPEVO whiteboard system, she will be able to improve her lesson quality and engage with students on a more intimate level. “Having used an interactive whiteboard in a previous school, I have seen how these boards can engage students, making the learning more exciting and effective. Given that many of my students are still learning English, this visual tool will help them immensely. The iPevo Interactive Whiteboard system is portable, so my students at both schools can benefit from it.” Using the whiteboard, students will be able to see larger visual aids for composing music and partake in interactive classroom games and activities. Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, I cannot thank you enough for your generous donation. I am grateful, joyful, and eager to begin planning for instruction with the iPevo system. With your donation, my classroom can become even more student-centered. My students will be very excited to use this gift every week in Music class.With the iPevo system, my students in both schools will be able to have more engaging lessons. ELL students will have the visuals they need, and all students will benefit from the interactivity we will have in our music literacy and exploration activities.I can’t wait to share the iPevo system with my students in the fall. I know that they will be eager to join me in thanking you, and to share with you pictures of us using our new tool in the classroom!With gratitude, Mrs. Kutschke To fund next week’s music project click here!

June 20, 2014

Donation of the Week

omaha, ne – This week, we celebrate another accomplishment for the nonprofit by informing our readers about another double donation to a pair of young music programs! The first school, located in Omaha, Nebraska was in desperate need for a new guitar and classroom accessories. According to Mrs. Lawrence, Bryan Elementary School is embracing music in the curriculum; Students enjoy sixty (60) minutes of music instruction each week. However, she is unable to afford music instruments with her current budget. This classroom guitar project will allow Mrs. Lawrence the opportunity to teach a history of the guitar, and teach them chords to accompany their peers in signing exercises. The accompanying book of Children’s Folk Songs will be a great addition to her curriculum. Pulling from the donations brought in this week, KTBA and its donors made her wish come true. Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, I would like to take a moment and thank you for funding my project. My students are going to be so very excited about the new guitar! We are going to have a wonderful time learning by singing with and playing our new instrument.There are so many incredible benefits of learning music at a young age. I believe it is vital for every child to have a solid music education during their elementary school years. Your donation helps make this possible for my students. Thanks again! With gratitude, Mrs. Lawrence minneapolis, mn – This cymbals project, submitted by Ms. Winslow at Adelante College Preparatory in Minneapolis, was a plea for crash cymbals for their new in-school band. Recently hired to create and oversee the school’s new band program, her mission was to ensure a high quality music education curriculum for her students. Now in 6th grade, they are ready for more challenging material and especially music with varied instrumentation. This will help prepare them for auditions at the high school level – but it starts with having the instruments to practice on in the first place! Minnesota, unfortunately is known for having one of the worst achievement gaps in the country. Approximately 95% of academy students qualify for free or reduced lunch – of which, 99% of students are African American or Hispanic. Despite these numbers, Adelante boasts a 100% success rate as their public charter students are on paths to college, and KTBA wanted to be a part of their equation. Although a small request, percussion instruments were scarce at Adelante, even after a few successful instrument drives for the band program. Without percussion instruments, students missed out on specific repertoire that would enhance the overall band experience. Cymbals have a very unique timbre when incorporated with the ensemble sound of a symphony orchestra, wind ensemble, or even a rock band. It is often used at impact points, accented passages and even swells to add ambience to the overall soundscape. Having performed in many different kinds of collegiate and professional ensembles, we understand how expensive percussion equipment can be and we wanted to make sure this wasn’t the only reason stopping Ms. Winslow from preparing her students for new repertoire in the upcoming season. Thanks to your donations, we could afford the equipment for her to bring new instruments to her music classroom and fueling the students’ passion for live performance. Dear Keeping The Blues Alive Foundation, Thank you so much for generously funding this project! It was such a welcome surprise, as we wrap up this school year and prepare for next year’s band program.We’re aiming to provide a robust, high-quality band program for our students, by providing all instruments and equipment. Having quality instruments in our percussion section will allow our students to feel valued, have pride in the equipment they use, and have an authentic band experience.Thank you so much for your contribution to our endeavors!With gratitude, Ms. Winslow This weekly donation process is our consistent way of giving to music education programs across America! If you would like to donate to the next project, click here!

June 13, 2014

Shawn Gonzalez

Donation of the Week

Donation of the Week

Donation of the Week

Donation of the Week

Donation of the Week

Donation of the Week

Feel The Beat! Donation of the Week

Donation of the Week

Donation of the Week

Recent Posts

KTBA Donates Ukulele Tuners and Supplies to Elementary School

KTBA Donates Reeds and Method Books to Jr. High Classroom

KTBA Donates Recorder Karate Program to Liberty Traditional Charter School

KTBA Donates Percussion Mallets to Elementary School

KTBA and Spotify Sponsor Djembe Project